Actor Dileep, accused in the abduction and sexual assault of a woman actor, is no longer a member of A.M.M.A (Association of Malayalam Movie Actors), according to Mohanlal, president of the association.
“Dileep tendered his resignation after we sought it,” Mr. Mohanlal told the media after a meeting of available executive committee members of the actors’ guild here on Friday. Bickering within the association was apparent over the week after the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), a gathering of women actors in Malayalam cinema, voiced its protest against A.M.M.A for the body’s perceived apathy towards the assaulted woman actor, which according to them was in stark contrast to the protection it granted to the accused actor.
Mohanlal, who was flayed by the WCC for addressing seasoned women actors part of them with the generic word ‘actresses,’ chose to address them as such even on Friday. Rebutting the accusations, he said it was wrong on the part of some A.M.M.A members [who are also part of the WCC] to level allegations against the association while remaining within it.
There was a system within the body to address complaints of sexual harassment and the committee comprised K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Kukku Parameswaran and Kaviyoor Ponnamma. He also downplayed the sticking points in the responses to the WCC given separately by actors Siddique and Jagadeesh, saying both were in line with the official position on the issue.
“The A.M.M.A available executive has resolved that the reinstatement of women actors who have left the body will be considered as and when they approach it with the request. It’s not on top of our priority right now,” he said. “There’s no need to call a general body to discuss this. As for the Dileep issue, we had asked the women actors for sometime to act on the demand for his resignation, but that was not heeded,” he said.
