‘Better to stand outside the system and fight’: Geethu tells TNM after quitting AMMA

It was a decision that wasn’t expected, that too barely months after they had finally chucked him out. Dileep’s comeback into The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), the apex body of the Malayalam film industry in Kerala had rattled many. Especially uncomfortable with AMMA’s decision were members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an assortment of women professionals in the Malayalam film industry. For WCC, that had been formed after a female actor was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in February 2017, AMMA’s decision was shocking and perhaps unexpected.

After two days of deliberation, on Tuesday there was consensus that a few of the members, close friends of the survivor would resign from AMMA and that the survivor herself will lead the resignation campaign.

Geethu Mohandas, actor and film maker who was one among the four who resigned told TNM in an interview that it was her personal decision to stand by her friend, the survivor. She added that the matter had been discussed among members of the WCC.

When asked whether it would have been better to stay within the system and fight, Geethu said, “I felt it’s better to fight outside the system than inside , for the obvious reasons mentioned in my statement.”

In her resignation note she had said that it had become tough to question AMMA’s decisions while being a part of it. “AMMA needs people who follow the decision of the leadership without questioning. Our voices are getting drowned there. We cannot allow that anymore. I stand with my friend and will fight AMMA's such irresponsible actions from outside,” she wrote.

What do Geethu and others in WCC expect AMMA to do now? “Nothing”, she says and adds, “We have shown our solidarity with our friend and protested the way we think is right.”

Geethu says she had not anticipated that the first meeting of the newly elected committee headed by Mohanlal would reinstate Dileep. “It was shocking and irresponsible. I actually never thought of it and didn’t see it coming,” she said.

For almost everyone who is a member of WCC, it has not been an easy fight. Ridiculed as ‘feminichis’ and trolled by fans of male actors, some have even found their opportunities waning. But this is a fight that Geethu says they will continue, “The fight against misogyny has always been there. We are continuing it. Gender sensitization is a basic requirement for the normal development of an individual. It should start at a young age and even in educational systems,” Geethu said.