Striking a poignant note and breaking his silence after the Kerala film industry was jolted by the explosive findings in the Hema Committee report, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal said on Saturday that he was never in hiding, adding that he “welcomes” the Hema Committee report.
On August 19, when the report surfaced, the Malayalam film industry’s ‘male hegemony’ came out in the open and as of now, FIRs have been registered against nine film personalities, which include actor-turned-two-time (sitting) CPI-M legislator Mukesh, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyan Pillai Raju, directors Ranjith, V.K. Prakash, production executives Vichu and Noble after women actresses registered complaints.
Since the report surfaced, Mohanlal has been targetted as he was the president of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes). As the call-outs against him kept increasing, on Tuesday, the entire 17-member AMMA executive stepped down.
“You all know that I hail from the state capital where my 47-year film career began, and you also know, I am not the one who is good at handling the media. I was not here as I was mostly in Gujarat, Mumbai and Chennai. In between, I had to attend to my wife’s surgery and was beside her. Also, I was completing the post-production work of my directorial debut and was working with a foreign production team. But now due to various issues, my film release has been put on hold,” said Mohanlal while interacting with the media on the sidelines of the launch of the Kerala Cricket League event.
“I was never in hiding and I don’t have to do it as all of you know me. The film industry is just one segment and these things happen everywhere. I appeared before the Hema Committee twice and as an actor and producer I answered all the questions put to me,” said Mohanlal.
“Please understand that AMMA is not a trade union, instead, it’s a family of around 500 members formed for the welfare of its members. I was the president twice and this time I was not keen, but due to pressure from many, I again decided to stand (for AMMA elections),” said Mohanlal.
“… things have now come to such a stage that it looks as if AMMA alone is responsible for all this, which is not acceptable as answers have to come from all the sections of the entire film industry. The need of the hour is all in the industry have to go forward in unison,” he added.
“What we all should understand is that more than 10,000 families are directly related to this film industry. A sense of fear has gripped the industry and many are worried about the future after the recent developments. Please do not join hands to destroy this industry,” Mohanlal said, while making a passionate plea to “not destroy the industry”.
Mohanlal also denied the presence of a ‘power group’ in the industry.
After his initial address to the media, when he was bombarded with questions, he said: “I am unable to answer all your questions as I do not have answers.”
On Friday, the National Commission for Women asked the Kerala Chief Secretary to send the unedited version of the Hema Committee report within a week’s time.