Actor Dileep, accused in a case of abduction and sexual assault on a woman actor, is no longer a member of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes), according to Mohanlal, president of the association.
“Dileep tendered his resignation after we sought it,” Mr. Mohanlal told mediapersons after a hurriedly called meeting of available executive committee members of the actors’ guild here on Friday.
Bickerings
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 AMMA for the body’s perceived apathy towards the assaulted actor, which according to them was in stark contrast to the protection it granted to the accused actor.
Mr. Mohanlal, who was flayed by the WCC for addressing three of their members as ‘actresses’, chose to address them thus even on Friday. “Aren’t we all actors and actresses? I don’t think it’s a big deal addressing actors as such…,” he said.
Rebutting the accusations, he said it was wrong on the part of some AMMA 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 KPAC 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.
Reinstatement of actors
“The AMMA 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 is not on top of our priority right now, but they are to follow the procedure if they want to return,” 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.
Mr. Mohanlal said the actors’ body would seek an explanation from actor Alencier who was accused by a woman actor of sexual misconduct. But the woman actor concerned had not given a complaint to AMMA.
Meanwhile, the #MeToo allegation against actor Mukesh would not be looked into as it lacked clarity. Mr. Mohanlal expressed his dismay over what he thought were attempts to target him as he was heading the actors’ guild. He said he would hold the top office of the association if everyone wanted him to be there.
Actor Baburaj, however, lambasted the WCC for trying to feed on the blood of AMMA and said the association president was being targeted in the name of three women actors who had quit AMMA.
Actor Siddique reiterated his position that there was a conspiracy to destroy the association.
The next meeting of the association would decide on an official spokesperson, Mr. Mohanlal said.
