Haven’t asked anyone to defend me: Mammootty on Parvathy-Kasaba controversy

Mammootty says freedom of opinion is as important as freedom of expression.

After days of silence, Malayalam superstar Mammootty has broken the silence about the online harassment Paravathy has been facing for the past few days. Parvathy has been the target of a troll campaign after the Qarib Qarib Singlle actor said that she found Mammootty’s Kasaba misogynistic. Speaking about the issue to Manorama Online, Mammootty has said that he has not asked anyone to defend him. “I don’t go after any controversy. What we need are meaningful debates. I have not assigned anyone to respond on my behalf or defend me,” said Mammootty.

He further added that freedom of opinion is as important as freedom of expression and he wasn’t following the controversy that erupted after Parvathy’s comments as he was abroad. Mammootty also said that he asked Parvathy to not worry about it too much when she had texted him about the issue adding that he never appreciates his fans abusing anyone.

Read: One person arrested after Parvathy files police complaint against cyberbullying

Mammootty’s comments come a day after a person was arrested in the case. Parvathy had earlier lodged a complaint with the Ernakulam police after incessant cyber bullying. The person arrested was identified as Printo hailing from Wadakkanchery. Printo was taken into custody and is currently being interrogated. Parvathy had made the comments during an open forum at the International Film Festival of Kerala where the actor said that misogyny and violence shouldn’t be celebrated on screen. Notably, there is also a negative campaign said to be running against the film Mayanadhi as Rima Kalligal, the wife of the film’s director Aashiq Abu, was part of the same panel.

Read: Dear Parvathy, please don’t stop calling out misogyny in films even if you are trolled every time