What kind of character is Mammootty playing in 'Kalamkaval'?

The news of Mammootty and Vinayakan acting in a movie together has been circulating for a while, along with the picture of the two actors enacting a scene from the film. 

On Saturday, the makers associated with the new MammoottyKampany production revealed the film's title, Kalamkaval, and the first look, which holds much promise. It's a picture of ferocity, the actor with slicked-back hair and a crushed cigarette between his teeth as he is seemingly engaged in a scuffle with someone. The tagline adds more intrigue: 'The Venom Beneath'.

The scene seems to clarify the speculation that he is playing the antagonist while Vinayakan plays a positive character. The placement of the two actors' names in the poster suggests that both will have equal prominence.

For some fans, Mammootty's negative characters have a special place in their hearts since some of the actor's most iconic roles lean towards the grey side, most notably Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Vidheyan. 

It was only last year that Mammootty stunned audiences with a chilling villainous turn in director Rahul Sadasivan's Bramayugam. Before that, there was his 'Luke Antony' in Rorschach, which saw the actor presenting another twisted, never-before-seen character. 

What kind of character could Mammootty be playing in Kalamkaval? While it's not yet confirmed whether he is playing the exact same character, last year, in an interview with The Cue, eminent journalist John Brittas mentioned a recent interaction with Mammootty during which the actor shared with him that he is playing a perverted psychopath in an upcoming film, and when Brittas asked him if such a role would upset his fans, the megastar replied that it's just another attempt at experimenting with roles he had not done before.

Kalamkaval is directed by debutant Jithin K Jose, known as one of the co-writers of Dulquer Salmaan's Kurup, in which he also worked as an assistant director.