The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) has finally set a date for the emergency executive council meeting as per a demand made by three members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). The meeting will take place on August 7 in Kochi, where AMMA's executive council members will meet actors Parvathy, Revathy and Padmapriya.
The WCC had asked for the meeting after AMMA took back rape accused Dileep in their general body meeting soon after Mohanlal became the president of the organisation. Sources told TNM that actor Parvathy who has been in the US for the past few weeks, will reschedule her trip to come back for the meeting. The letter sent by AMMA, sources say, was not completely conciliatory in nature and expressed the organisation's displeasure about the women actors going public with their grievances.
The decision to take Dileep back had been slammed by several people, including prominent members of the Malayalam film industry, the Kannada film industry, as well as activists, politicians and social commentators. Following AMMA's move, four members of the WCC tendered their resignation in protest - Rima Kallingal, Geetu Mohandas, Remya Nambessan, and the survivor who had been assaulted in February 2017.
Three other members of the WCC, Parvathy, Revathy, and Padmapriya called for an emergency executive council meeting. The WCC also took strong objections to Mohanlal's assertion at a press meet that reinstating Dileep had been part of the agenda at the general body meeting and that nobody had turned up to register their protest at the time. As the documents accessed by TNM confirm, taking Dileep back into the fold was not listed anywhere in the meeting's agenda.
At the same press meet, Mohanlal revealed that Dileep had decided not to be part of AMMA, in spite of their invitation. Although the actor projected an image that he wanted to bridge the gap between AMMA and WCC, he steadfastly defended AMMA's stance in several issues, including that of the survivor's earlier complaint that she had been denied acting opportunities by Dileep because of her close association with his ex-wife Manju Warrier.
Speaking to TNM, actor and WCC member Revathy had said that she intends to have a serious conversation with the executive committee members of AMMA about several issues. The WCC had put down four items for discussion in the emergency executive council meeting in a letter submitted to AMMA on June 28.
These include:
1. The expelled member's reinstatement & the implications of AMMA's decision.
2. The steps taken by AMMA to support the survivor.
3. How AMMAs bye-laws are structured to ensure welfare of all its members.
4. What AMMA can do to make women feel more included and safe.