‘My mind was at a different place then’: Mohanlal on his ‘aren’t you ashamed’ comment

In a Facebook post, actor Mohanlal said he was in a different mental state, engaged in flood relief work for his NGO, when the question was asked about protest by nuns.
‘My mind was at a different place then’: Mohanlal on his ‘aren’t you ashamed’ comment
‘My mind was at a different place then’: Mohanlal on his ‘aren’t you ashamed’ comment
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A day after his eyebrow-raising comment in response to a journalist’s question on the ongoing protests by the nuns in Kerala, actor Mohanlal has come out with an explanation on his Facebook page. The actor was in Kochi for a flood relief work organised by his NGO, ViswaSanthi Foundation, when he was asked about the protest.

A visibly irritated Mohanlal retorted, saying, ‘Aren’t you ashamed to ask a question like this now? What is the connection between what I am doing here and that?”

There was a string of criticisms on the actor’s reaction to a protest that has been receiving support from all quarters, and even getting international attention. The nuns from the Kuruvilangad convent had started protesting near Kochi High Court, demanding the arrest of Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping their friend and colleague, another nun.

Mohanlal, in his explanation, addresses the reporter as a friend. “I don’t remember your face, only your voice. I also can’t forget my answer to your question. That’s why I am writing this,” the actor begins the post.

He talks about ViswaSanthi, a trust that was started in the name of his parents, for social work. The NGO did a lot of work for flood relief, he writes. He had come to the Kochi port to send the materials collected from foreign countries, to the flood-affected areas in Pathanamthitta.

It was while briefing the media about the relief work that the reporter asked him the question on the protest. “Since this is the topic that Kerala is discussing the most today, it is definitely a significant question,” the actor writes, contradicting his earlier comment on how that question was relevant in that occasion.

He goes on to explain that he was not in a mental state to give an answer at that point in time. “My mind was at a different place then, as a human, and as a son. That’s why my answer came out that way. Without asking any question about the work that was happening there, when you asked this question, my mind must have told me it should not have been asked.”

But even after a night, the incident is still on his mind, Mohanlal writes. “If my answer has hurt the reporter who asked that question, consider it as coming from an elder brother and forgive me. My answer was not meant for the individual, the publication he worked for or journalism. We are people who have to meet again, and I am obliged to answer your questions.”

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