Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 8 (IANS): Playing a CBI officer must be second nature by now for Malayalam superstar Mammootty, but it's clear that he is in the mood for more.

In his latest movie 'CBI 5: The Brain' due for theatrical release this summer, Mollywood's evergreen star is playing the character of CBI Officer Sethurama Iyer, yet again.

It is for the fifth time that Mammootty is donning the role of a CBI officer in a career spanning 35 years. The first film in the franchise is 'Oru CBI Diarykurippu' released in 1988 followed by 'Jagratha' (1989), 'Sethurama Iyer CBI' (2004), 'Nerariyan CBI' (2005). 'CBI 5: The Brain'(2022) is the latest movie in the series.

Interestingly, Mammootty plays not just the same character but portrays the same age across all these films.

Considered among the top actors that India has produced, Mammootty is a three-time National Award winner. This includes a national award for English-Hindi bilingual, 'Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar'. He also has an impressive tally of superhits in languages like Tamil and Telugu which are not his mother tongue.

Director K. Madhu, and writer S.N. Swamy are also permanent fixtures of all the 5 movies. S.N. Swamy the man who created the character of the smart CBI officer 35 years ago, says "It is unbelievable for even us when we see him on screen, I mean there is no difference between 1988 and now, one can't even make out any difference if we compare pictures. It is like time has stood still. We have seen various actors play James Bond over these years, but this man goes on and on. His discipline, his lifestyle is inspirational".

Produced by Swargachitra, 'CBI 5: The Brain' comes after Mammootty's biggest hit ever 'Bheeshma Parvam' which released recently and his upcoming OTT debut in 'Puzhu'.