Supporting role These stars unabashedly make ageing an art, always in love with themselves and indulging in set-pieces that send their fans into a tizzy. Nobody exhibits this phenomenon better than Mammootty. In his first pre-release presser of a film in a year, Mammootty, with a designer mask and flowy strands, talks about his beard and how he lets it grow. He says how he stepped out of his house after 275 days and had tea. He makes people laugh, he smiles over his own wisecracks. He disses attempts at roiling his irritable temper with clipped, snappy monosyllables. He is enabled by the wisdom and liberty his age affords. He takes off his mask to show he is unflustered, even when he tackles politics. “My politics is what I do”, he says.