Malayalam film body AMMA chief Mohanlal, 17 members resign

IN THE wake of various sexual abuse allegations cropping up against many of its members, all office-bearers of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), including its president and top actor Mohanlal, resigned from their positions on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Association said the current administrative panel resigned as such, taking moral responsibility for the allegations.

The new administrative panel would be elected within two months after convening a general body meeting, it said.

The Association also thanked everyone for criticising and correcting them, the statement added.

This development comes in the wake of the explosive Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry, which was made public on August 19.

The report has opened a can of worms with several female actors stepping forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.

The silence of AMMA regarding the allegations and the delayed response to the Hema Committee report were questioned by the public and members of the film fraternity.

Nearly a week after the report became public, AMMA general secretary and senior actor Siddique had to resign following sexual assault allegations raised by a woman actor.

Apart from Siddique, filmmakers Ranjith, Thulasidas, actors Jayasurya, Mukesh, Maniyan Pillaraju, Edavela Babu and Suraj Venjaramoodu were named as abusers by female actors.

The dissolved AMMA committee included actors Jagadish, Jayan Cherthala, Baburaj, Kalabhavan Shajon, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Joy Mathew, Suresh Krishna, Ananya, Vinu Mohan, Tovino Thomas, Sarayu, Ansiba, Jomol and Tini Tom.

Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government in 2017 after the 2017 actress assault case had revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.

Actors welcome move

Many actors, especially women, welcomed and expressed happiness over the resignation of AMMA office- bearers.

Well-known actor Shwetha Menon said she welcomed the executive panel's decision and wished that the outfit would get new leaders who are capable of continuing its various ongoing programmes.

She said a young actor like Prithviraj has the ability to lead the association.

"I feel Raju (Prithviraj) as a president in the future. I think he has the capability... calibre for the same," she told the media.

Menon also said she felt sad seeing a great actor like Mohanlal facing this much stress over the developments.

Another senior actor, Usha, said AMMA as an outfit was really good, but some of its members on its executive panel were troublemakers.

"A new panel, which can address the concerns of women and to whom female actors could courageously approach and open up about their issues, should come to the top positions in the outfit," she said.

Senior dubbing artiste Bhagyalakshmi also welcomed the resignation of the AMMA panel and said it was their responsibility in the wake of sexual allegations and accusations that cropped up against its members.

Media misleading public: Gopi

Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Tuesday lashed out at the media, accusing it of misleading the public's perception about the film industry regarding the recent allegations of sexual harassment against actors and directors.

The actor-politician termed the allegations as "food" for the media and said they were welcome to make money out of it.

The Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, however, said they should not try to destroy such a huge industry like cinema.

He was responding to reporters' queries over the recent allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against various directors and actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh.

"This is all food for you, is what I understand. You can use it to make money. (There is) no problem with that. But these issues are before the court, and it has the intelligence and logic to arrive at a decision regarding them.

"You (media) are not only making people fight each other for your own gains, you are also misleading public perception. The complaints are in the form of allegations at the moment. What are you telling people? Are you the court? You are not. The court will decide. Let the court decide," Gopi said.

His response came a day after the Yuva Morcha organised a march towards the residence of Mukesh in Kollam.

The state BJP leadership disagreed with his stand. BJP state president K Surendran said that while Gopi, as an actor and a minister, was entitled to his personal opinion, the party stand is that Mukesh should resign.

"Party is what the party leadership decides," he said, while speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.