Parvathy has reacted to the decision of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for mass resignation of its office-bearers, including president Mohanlal. Speaking on Mojo Story, Parvathy said her first reaction to the decision was thinking, ‘how cowardly of them to step away from a position where they are now accountable to speak to media”. She also spoke about how the AMMA functions, adding that it has a “fear induced atmosphere”. (Also Read | Mohanlal resigns as AMMA president after heavy criticism; entire committee dissolved)
Parvathy on Mohanlal, AMMA executive members’ resignation
Parvathy said, “The first thought that I had when I heard the news about this collective resignation was, ‘How cowardly. How cowardly of them to step away from a position where they are now accountable to speak to media’. That was the immediate cop-out. Again the onus falls on us women to take the conversations and debates forward and all of it. It would have been amazing if they had at least shown the intention to work with the government and stakeholders and figure a way out. This is the same executive committee that welcomed the prime accused of the sexual assault case back to their fold when the case was still going on. This is the same executive committee that claimed none of these things actually exist at all until, of course, the allegations against them came out.”
Parvathy opens up on AMMA
She continued, “I’m not surprised at their behaviour. I was part of AMMA before, I’ve seen how they function. There’s a reason why I happily resigned from the association. There is no one they can fool with this kind of behaviour…Society is now seeing them for who they are.” She added that AMMA will now benefit to have “better leadership at this point”. She also revealed that AMMA is a “fear induced atmosphere” and “authoritarian space for sure”.
Why Mohanlal, other AMMA executive members take step?
Mohanlal and other office-bearers of the cine artists’ association in Kerala resigned enmasse on Tuesday amidst an uproar over the sexual abuse allegations made against a number of male professionals by women actors over the past few days. Many female actors have gone public with allegations of sexual harassment against some of the well-known faces of Malayalam cinema, including director Ranjith and actors Siddique and Mukesh, in the wake of the Justice K Hema Committee report that shed light on workplace harassment in the Malayalam film world.
Mohanlal, in his capacity as president, reportedly convened an online meeting of its members to discuss the unprecedented dilemma being faced by the association before taking the decision about the resignation of the executive panel members. AMMA said that the current administrative panel has resigned as such, taking moral responsibility for the allegations.
Justice Hema Committee report
Following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, some office-bearers of the AMMA, including actor Siddique who quit as its general secretary, had to face sexual allegations in the social, visual, and print media. And in view of that, the present executive panel was resigning, taking moral responsibility, it explained.
The new administrative panel would be elected within two months after convening a general body meeting, it said, adding that the outgoing panel would continue as a temporary system to carry forward the association’s various ongoing programmes without fail until the next general body meeting, it said.
