Pressure is mounting on prominent Malaysian film director Ranjith to resign as president of the state-run Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA) after Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra accused the filmmaker of behaving inappropriately with her.
Mitra, a popular face in the Bengali film and television industry, accused Ranjith of misbehaving with her when she went to meet the director at an apartment in connection with the latter’s film ‘Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha’ in 2009, which made her feel ‘uncomfortable’.
The director has strongly denied the accusations.
The charges against Ranjith have created quite a stir as they come in the wake of the recently made public Hema Committee report exposing “rampant sexual abuse” in the Malayalam film industry.
Ranjith is known to be close to Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayanand according to sources, the latter had previously supported him when he was involved in a fight over alleged altercations at the KSCA.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders, Congress and BJP, have joined the growing clamour seeking Ranjith’s resignation as KSCA chief.
In fact, Annie Raja, a senior CPI leader and wife of party general secretary D Raja, has also asked Ranjith to resign and confess what he said.
The CPI is the second-largest ally of the LDF-led state government, which fielded her as a candidate in the recent Lok Sabha elections from Wayanad, where she lost to Congress’s Rahul Gandhi by over 3 lakh votes.
Meanwhile, a section of the ruling CPI-M also believes that in the wake of the Hema Committee report which has become a hot issue in the state, it will be good if Ranjith resigns as KSCA president given the way the report pointed out the rampant sexual abuse allegedly prevalent in the Malayalam film industry.
However, Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian strongly defended the filmmaker on Saturday, saying, “Ranjith has said that he is innocent. If anyone has a complaint, it should be put in writing so that an inquiry can be conducted. He (Ranjith) is a very popular artiste and nothing should be done based on a statement alone. A mere allegation will not suffice, there has to be a written complaint and only then an inquiry can be initiated. Without that, nothing can be done. What if the allegation turns out to be false?”
Kerala State Women’s Commission chairperson and former CPI-M MP P. Sathidevi said she had only heard about the issue through the media and will seek a report from the state government in this regard.
On Saturday, Ranjith’s official car was seen at a private resort in Wayanad where Youth Congress workers gathered and shouted slogans demanding his resignation. Later, the KSCA’s official vehicle was seen leaving the resort.
Police have decided to provide security at the director’s residence in Kozhikode.
Meanwhile, veteran director Badran said it would be better if Ranjith resigned as KSCA chief as the charges levelled against him are serious, adding that he could always return once he is cleared of the allegations.
Earlier, recalling the incident that allegedly took place in Kochi in 2009, Mitra said that he had gone to an apartment where he met Ranjith and other members of his team to discuss a role in the film ‘Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha’.
During the discussions, Ranjith allegedly made advances towards her, which made her uncomfortable.
She left the scene immediately after telling one of Ranjith’s team members that she would not be part of the project, Mitra said.
“I don’t want to go there and complain because I have work to do here. The least I expect is an apology,” Mitra said.
Ranjith has vehemently denied the allegations, saying Mitra was only called for an audition.
With the Congress-led opposition accusing the Pinarayi Vijayan government of shielding the guilty in the wake of revelations made in the Hema Committee report, the latest allegation against Ranjith has further complicated matters for the state government.
Even the Kerala High Court has dropped enough hints about the delay in the publication of the… Hema Committee Report –which was filed in 2019– by the Vijayan government cannot be ignored, all eyes will be on the court when it takes up the matter for hearing on September 10.
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