Not right to attack Mohanlal alone: AMMA defends president after Women in Cinema Collective attack

Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) treasurer Jagdish on Sunday issued a statement suggesting the association has not taken a decision on the nature of actor Dileep's guilt, and that it is unfair to blame Mohanlal on the matter.

Jagdish wrote: "Dileep's case is currently in the court and unless the court gives its final ruling, no one can come to a conclusion if he is guilty or not. AMMA has not come to any conclusion if Dileep is innocent or guilty. The decision of the general body which was against the executive committee decision to oust Dileep was based on the legal opinion that AMMA got. So it's not right to attack Mohanlal alone."

Dileep is accused of masterminding and plotting the kidnapping of a Malayalam film actress in 2017. The actor-producer is currently out on bail, after having spent 85 days in jail.

On Saturday, led by actors Revathy, Padmapriya and Parvathy, who were joined by Remya Nambeesan, Rima Kallingal and Geethu Mohandas - who had quit AMMA back in September - the Women in Cinema Collective conducted a press conference attacking Mohanlal and the AMMA's actions regarding the case.

Firstpost.com quoted the actress saying, "They (AMMA) use by-laws when they find it useful for their requirements and when it comes to our needs, they cling to by-laws."

At a later conference, AMMA secretary and veteran actor Sidiq was quoted by The NewsMinute as saying, "AMMA is not an association to mock anybody or cast aspersions on anybody. Its members may not answer all questions or allegations against it. It is not out of fear or with the intention to maintain silence. We have not been responding so far because we did not feel the need to so. We decided to respond now because we have a responsibility towards the public [sic]."

Sidiq went on to add that the actresses' demand of removing Dileep from forthcoming projects could not be accepted. He said, "The three members wanted Dileep banned from movies. How can somebody ask another person to leave his/her profession based on allegations? They gave examples of Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan that they decided to walk out of movies. What they did was wrong [sic]."

Meanwhile, Mohanlal has maintained that the actresses who resigned from AMMA will be accepted back into the organisation, and their problems addressed afterwards.