Actor-politician Ramesh Pisharody recently shared the stage with Mammootty for the first time since being elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly this year on a Congress ticket. Their light-hearted exchange at the Anand TV Awards in London has since gone viral on social media.
The conversation began with Mammootty jokingly pointing out that he is not an MLA. Ramesh responded by highlighting the actor's long association with political roles on screen. "He's not an MLA, but Mammookka has played Chief Ministers in three states. In Tamil, Telugu, in One, he was the Chief Minister of Kerala," said Ramesh. Mammootty quickly responded with a witty remark that drew laughter from the audience. "Anyone can act. Living as an MLA is the difficult part," he said.
Ramesh then recalled using a dialogue from One during his election campaign speeches. According to him, the line was not part of the original screenplay and was instead added by Mammootty himself. "When I was campaigning, I used a dialogue Mammookka said in One. It was about how elected representatives should not seek to rule over people, but govern for the people. That dialogue wasn't in the script. Mammookka added it himself," he said.
Mammootty then repeated the line and offered a more precise version of it. "Let me say it properly once again. A democratic government is not meant to govern the people; it is meant to govern for the people," the actor said.
