Actor Mohanlal resigned as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). As per reports, all the members of the executive committee submitted their joint resignation. The film body said that a new committee will be formed after an election in two months. (Also read: ‘Mohanlal has lost his ability to respond’: Malayalam actor Shammy Thilakan amid sexual misconduct allegations)
Hema Committee report and aftermath
Heads began rolling in the Malayalam film world on Sunday in the aftermath of the Justice K Hema Committee’s explosive findings of harassment and abuse of women professionals, leading to two high-profile resignations over allegations of sexual abuse.
Amid mounting pressure on the government to take action against alleged predators in the film industry, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened a high-level meeting with senior police officials and decided to establish a seven-member special team to investigate the atrocities faced by women actors.
More skeletons tumbled out of the closet with fresh accounts of harassment emerging on Sunday. Even an old one, involving actor-politician Mukesh, resurfaced.
Director Ranjith and actor Siddique stepped down from their leadership roles in a state-run film academy and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A), respectively.
Criticism for Mohanlal
Earlier, actor Shammy Thilakan spoke to the press, according to IE, and took a dig at Mohanlal for not speaking up. Shammy spoke to the press about recent events, stating that Mohanlal had “lost his ability to respond”. He also noted that whoever has done wrong will face consequences, saying, “Those who eat salt will drink water, whoever it is,” and adding, “I live in fear too. The term ‘power group’ was used by the Hema Committee, and their report contains evidence of its existence. We can identify who is part of that group based on this evidence.”
An award-winning filmmaker, screen writer and actor, Ranjith was under fire after a Bengali female actor accused him of misbehaviour years ago, but the issue came to the limelight in the wake of the Hema Committee report becoming public.
Siddique too quit, as the general secretary of AMMA amid voices from within his fraternity seeking his resignation following a sexual assault complaint raised against him by a young actress.
Putting more pressure on the government, some other female actors also narrated their harrowing experiences in front of the media without naming their accused male colleagues later in the day.
Actor-turned MLA Mukesh also came up with an explanation when an harassment allegation raised by a woman professional against him years ago surfaced again in the wake of present developments.
The two-time legislator claimed he was targeted by a section of people as he was a ruling CPI (M) MLA and that the allegations were baseless.
Ranjith stepped down as the head of the government-run Kerala Chalachitra Academy on Sunday morning and informed his decision through an audio clip sent to a television channel.
He resigned amid an opposition clamour–from the Congress and BJP– demanding he quit from the post.
BJP activists took out a protest march to Ranjith’s residence in Kozhikode this morning demanding his resignation.
Ranjith said he doesn’t want to continue in the position as it would adversely impact the reputation of the Left government in the state. He said he would fight the accusations against him legally.
“I have been targeted by a certain section of people since the day I took charge as the Chairman of the Academy. I need to prove before the society that the allegations are untrue. I have decided to move legally and bring out the truth,” he was heard saying in the audio clip.
The Bengali actor had recently alleged that the award-winning filmmaker had behaved in an inappropriate manner when she came up for the shooting of a film which he had helmed. The filmmaker has rejected the actor’s charge and said he was the “real victim” in the case.
However, the actor on Sunday made it clear she does not wish to go ahead with a police case.
