Kozhikode, Jan 3 : The residence of the recently departed legend M.T. Vasudevan Nair turned crowded when the news came that superstar Mammootty, who was out of the country when the former passed away last week, will be arriving to pay his homage to the legendary writer and spend time with his family.

When Mammootty's car stopped at Vasudevan Nair's house named 'Sithara' after his eldest daughter, he was greeted by the latter's daughter and wife. He spent time with them and explained that despite his best efforts to come for the last rites, he was unable to do so.

Mammootty was in Azerbaijan when the news came to him that the person who wrote numerous scripts and stories for him, which turned out to be the biggest-ever hits in Malayalam films, had passed away.

After making a few attempts to reach Kozhikode, an air crash in Azerbaijan, made it impossible and therefore he was not able to come and bid goodbye to Vasudevan Nair.

But the veteran superstar took to his social media and wrote a passionate note, "at least some people say that I was a find of MT."

"Ever since I met him first, our relationship started to grow, and it reached the level of brotherhood. Very recently we met and he tripped and fell to my chest and for a moment I felt I was his son. My biggest takeaway from the films is I got a place in his heart," Mammootty wrote.

The relationship between the two giants began way back in 1980 when Mammootty's acting break came through the film 'Vilkanunde Swapnengel' (1980) and after that, the superstar had no reason to look back as accolades came one after the other, each time MT wrote a new piece.

Mammootty's first Kerala State Film Award came for 'Adiyozhukkukal' (1984) written by MT and in 1989 he won his first national award for the film 'Oru Vaddaken Veeragatha' in 1989 ( 'Mathilukel' directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also considered for the national award) and in 1994 came another of MT's masterpiece 'Sukurthum', which took Mammootty to a new level.

Among the other hits of the duo include 'Aalkoottathil Thaniye', 'Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja' and 'Utharam'.

The 91-year-old Jnanpith awardee and celebrated writer passed away on December 26 and was given a state funeral on December 27.

/IANS