100 artists, activists against Mohanlal as chief guest for Kerala State Film Awards

The Malayalam film industry seems to be going through a time of civil unrest. After the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) president Mohanlal was invited to be the chief guest of the Kerala State Film Awards, over 100 signatories comprising of directors and artistes have opposed the decision. The veteran actor has incurred the displeasure of many members of the industry for siding with actor Dileep, who has been accused of allegedly planning and ordering the abduction and assault of an actress in 2017. 

The signatories endorsing the opposition to Mohanlal include actor Prakash Raj, filmmaker Geethu Mohandas, actress Rima Kallingal, poet KG Sankaran Pillai, cinematographer Rajeev Ravi, film editor Bina Paul, screenwriter Deedi Damodaran, and film critic Maneesh Narayanan, among others. 

News website, thenewsminute.com, quoted from a statement issued by the signatories: "The stage should host a simple function where the chief minister presents the awards in the presence of the Cultural Minister. Bypassing the chief minister and the award winners and inviting a chief guest is not only improper but also belittling the achievement of the award winners."

National award winning director Bijukumar Damodaran put up a Facebook post citing his opposition to the Kerala government's move to invite Mohanlal as the chief guest. In his post, written in Malayalam, the director criticised the government saying it seemed to be out of touch with the developments in the Malayalam film industry. 

By developments, Damodaran was hinting at the growing frictions between AMMA and several artistes opposing the organisation's decision to reinstate Dileep in AMMA. While the newly elected president, Mohanlal, did hold a press conference claiming that Dileep is not a member, the criticism did not abate. 

AMMA is set to meet with director Revathy and actresses Parvathy Menon and Padmapriya to answer the questions. Several actresses, including the victim, had tendered their resignation from the association after the news Dileep's reinstatement broke out.