Bineesh Bastin alleges Anil Radhakrishna Menon refused to share stage with him; director denies

Later, Bastin told the audience that Menon was reluctant to share the stage with him because he had gone to him pleading for a role in his film. The actor claimed that the function, in which he was to participate, was delayed by an hour by the organisers so that Menon doesn’t have to share the dias with him.

“Today is the most insulting day of my life. I was invited as a guest here. But an hour ago, the college union chairman told me that Anil (the filmmaker) doesn’t want to share the stage with an ordinary actor like me. Anil said that I had gone to him asking for a chance (role) in his film . I am not a Menon nor am I a National Award-winning actor. I felt very, very sad. Nobody should be treated this way,” he said in a cell-phone video widely shared on Facebook. While Menon had left the stage when Bastin began speaking, the actor departed soon after without participating in the college function.

Anil Radhakrishna Menon, when contacted by ieMalayalam for his response, denied the allegations made by Bineesh Bastin. The filmmaker said he has never defamed Bastin for his caste and apologised if the actor felt insulted in any way.

“I don’t take money to attend functions like these. It has always been like that. I don’t wish to be a part of something where someone else gets to benefit. That’s why I asked the organisers upfront if they had called anyone else besides me. Later they told me that Bineesh Bastin has been invited as well. I asked them if they could leave me out. Not just Bineesh, I don’t wish to share a stage with anyone,” he said.

“Then they told me Bineesh’s programme has been postponed by an hour. I said I was confused. When they pleaded me to come, I finally agreed. When he came on stage, you can hear me on the microphone asking the audience to clap for him. When he sat on the ground, I requested him to sit on the chair. But he didn’t listen. I don’t classify anyone as second-grade or third-grade. They are all actors. I have never looked down upon anyone,” Menon said, adding that he even had a role in mind for Bastin in his upcoming film.

Read the news in Malayalam

The incident at the college function, shared through a cell-phone video on Facebook by Bastin’s friend, has evoked reactions on social media platforms. Many users slammed the filmmaker for denigrating the actor, vowing not to watch his films in future. Congress MLA VT Balram took a dig at the college union, led by CPM student wing SFI, for ‘bowing down to upper-caste fealties’.