The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) on Sunday came out with a statement slamming Mathrubhumi newspaper. This after Mathrubhumi reported that actor Mohanlal had threatened to resign from the post of President of the film body over difference of opinion.
This statement by AMMA comes after Mathrubhumi - one of Kerala’s leading dailies, in a report on Sunday said that AMMA was divided and that actor Mohanlal is threatening to resign from the post of president.
The report said that the confusion in Amma began during a meeting following actor Mohanlal’s press conference on July 10.
According to Mathrubhumi, Mohanlal is reported have said that if they don’t stand with the actor who was attacked, at least now, then the film body will be destroyed and that they will lose their face in the society. Later, when AMMA decided to file an impleading petition in court through two of its executive members Honey Rose and Rachana kutty, the organisation also decided to write to Pinarayi Vijayan asking for a woman judge. As per Mathrubhumi, the Dileep coterie in AMMA was against this and tried to stop the letter from reaching CM. This apparently upset Mohanlal who said he wanted to resign if decisions taken under his leadership were not adhered to.
In a Facebook post which it put out on late Sunday, AMMA had denied the allegations made by the newspaper about Mohanlal threatening to resign from the post of the president.
“This is to inform all the members of AMMA to not worry about the reports in Mathrubhumi” says AMMA in their Facebook statement.
The statement said that various other film organisations in Malayalam cinema had stopped giving cinema related advertisements to Mathrubhumi for the last one and a half years.
“Because of this, Mathrubhumi is taking out their frustration on us,” the statement read.
“From insulting newly released films to portraying the people who work in the Malayalam film industry in a bad light, the newspaper has been attacking the Malayalam film industry,” says AMMA.
The statement by AMMA went on to claim that there are no problems existing within the film body. The statement also went on to warn the members of AMMA to not feel alarmed if the newspaper comes out with such reports in the future as well.
Mathrubhumi has been in conflict with various film bodies of the Malayalam film industry for months. The Kerala Film Producers’ Association, has for over nine months now, been boycotting Mathrubhumi.
On February 15, 2018, the producers’ association sent a letter to the Kerala Cine Exhibitors Association requesting them also to boycott the media house.
“We do not want to make public the issue we have with Mathrubhumi. However, for very long now, the paper has been, in the name of film reviews, intentionally slandering each and every film just a day after its release. This pattern has even affected the box office collections of these movies,” the letter, written by KPFA President G Suresh Kumar alleged.
The conflict started after a woman actor was assaulted in February 2017. It was in one of Mathrubhumi’s talk shows that Dileep’s name was first brought up by a guest. The film industry also has issues with the media group for not giving flattering reviews for many movies.