The celluloid world of aesthetically exquisite Malayalam films was rocked on Tuesday with the great actor Mohanlal and other top officials quitting as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists - A.M.M.A. - amidst strong criticism over sexual abuse allegations against some of its members.
The day also saw increased heat from the Congress and BJP with both demanding that actor-politician Mukesh quit as CPI(M) MLA owing to the seriousness of the accusations.
Later, Malayalam superstar and Union Minister Suresh Gopi had to face flak in his own party, the BJP, over his alleged support for the Mukesh in similar allegations and over reports of manhandling journalists in his constituency in Thrissur.
The resignation of Mohanlal and other A.M.M.A officials comes as the Kerala film industry reels from revelations by several female actors who have come out courageously to share, through the media, traumatic experiences. These disclosures are also in the wake of unsettling findings of the Hema Committee report that exposed pervasive abuse against women within the Malayalam film industry.
Among those who have filed sexual harassment complaints against various prominent figures are a Bengali actress and a few others, accusing known names in Malayalam cinema - including well-known director Ranjith and actors Siddique and Mukesh - following the report of the Justice K Hema Committee.
On Tuesday, A.M.M.A- the mighty actors' union - issued a press release announcing en masse resignation of its office-bearers, including president Mohanlal.
The president, Mohanlal, reportedly called an online meeting of the members of A.M.M.A to discuss the unprecedented crisis the association is facing before he decided to quit as an executive panel member.
A.M.M.A said that in the view of the allegations against some of its members, the existing administrative panel resigned en masse on moral grounds.
There were allegations of sexual assault and harassment in social, visual, and print media against all office-bearers of A.M.M.A. including actor Siddique, who subsequently resigned as its general secretary, after the publication of the Justice Hema Committee report.
The retiring executive committee accepted its moral obligation and said that a new executive body was going to be elected within two months after the general body meeting. Until then, the present panel will look after the ongoing activities in the Association's administration.
It was earlier in the day that Suresh Gopi had made allegations of media misinformation on public perception about the film industry in regard to recently surfaced allegations of sexual harassment against actors and directors, which have snowballed into a big controversy. The state BJP leadership did not agree with his stand.
To a question on the charges against actor and CPI(M) MLA Mukesh, Gopi said that the case is pending before the court and a final verdict is up to the judiciary.
You are not only making people fight each other for your own gains, you are misleading public perception. At this stage these are mere allegations. What you're trying to tell the people is that you are the court? No. The court is to decide. Let the court decide, Gopi told reporters in Thrissur.
Following that, state BJP president K Surendran asserted that Gopi is only airing his view as an actor and a minister whereas the party's stand on the whole issue is that Mukesh should resign.
"The party's stand depends on the party leadership," Surendran told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
When reporters asked about what Gopi felt about Surendran's comments, he is said to have reacted in anger and is believed to have pushed away some journalists as he tried to get into his official car.
KUWJ condemned the action of Gopi and demanded an apology from the union minister.
In their earlier exchanges, the media and Gopi termed the allegation as "food" for the media, saying they are welcome to "profit from it."
"This is all just food for you, as I see it. You can use it to make money. I have no problem with that. But these issues are currently before the court, and the court has the intelligence and logic to reach a conclusion," said Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Tourism.
Meanwhile, Congress and BJP intensified their demand on Tuesday for the resignation of Mukesh as MLA. In his reaction, the CPI(M) legislator dismissed the charges as "a mere repetition of the same political drama that unfolded back in 2018."
Mukesh has stated that the truth behind the accusation must come out through a proper and transparent investigation, stating that there was a group that tried to extort money from him by putting these allegations. He warned that strong legal action would be taken against those responsible.
The Kerala police has declared that the cases filed consequent to the recent complaints would be transferred to a special team formed to probe the abuse complaints raised by women in the film world.
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