Over 100 celebrities oppose Mohanlal as chief guest of Kerala State Film Awards

National Award-winning director Bijukumar Damodaran, popularly known as Dr Biju, issued a statement on Monday objecting to the Kerala government's move to invite Mohanlal as the chief guest of the state award distribution function.

AMMA president Mohanlal continues to face backlash over his controversial decision to reinstate actor Dileep into the film body.

Malayalam actor and Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) president Mohanlal continues to face backlash over his controversial decision to reinstate actor Dileep into the film body. National Award-winning director Bijukumar Damodaran, popularly known as Dr Biju, issued a statement on Monday condemning the Kerala government’s move to invite Mohanlal as the chief guest of the state award distribution function.

“The Kerala State Film Award is the highest recognition given by the state to Malayalam cinema artistes and hence this award should be given to them in an atmosphere comfortable to them,” read the statement shared by Biju on his Facebook page.

Biju further opined it was belittling of the award winners to invite an actor, whose films are among the contenders for the awards. The statement suggested that the awards be distributed by the Chief Minister in the presence of the Cultural Minister.

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Biju’s stand on the issue has been endorsed by more than 100 members of the film fraternity. Celebrities such as Prakash Raj, NS Madhavan, Sachidanandan, KG Sankaran Pillai, Rajeev Ravi, Bina Paul, Rima Kallingal, Geetu Mohandas and Sruthi Hariharan are among the signatories of the petition that has been submitted to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The latest development comes just days after Biju had slammed Cultural Minister AK Balan for inviting Mohanlal as the chief guest of the award show. Earlier in a statement, Biju said the minister seems to be not aware of the current developments in the Malayalam film industry and the growing resentment against its anti-women practices. He alleged that AMMA members took a regressive decision and made it clear that they were with the accused and not with the victim.

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After Mohanlal became the new president of AMMA in June, the association announced that it was open to taking back Dileep, whose membership was revoked last year following his arrest in the abduction and sexual assault of a woman actor. The decision sparked widespread outrage and divided the industry.

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