Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra accused Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith of sexually harassing her during the auditions for his 2009 film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha. The film directed by Ranjith, featured Mammootty, Shwetha Menon, and Mythili, in the lead roles. Sreelekha made the allegation in the wake of the publishing of the Hema Committee report, which has established the prevalence of sexual harassment against women in the Malayalam film industry.

Ranjith is the chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, a government initiative to promote Malayalam cinema, including the organising of film festivals. 

Speaking to Asianet News, Sreelekha alleged, “I was talking on the phone to a cinematographer, standing in Ranjith’s bedroom balcony. As I stood there, he touched my bangles. I was uncomfortable with it, but I gave him the benefit of doubt. Then he started caressing my neck, so I excused myself and left the room.” 

“It was traumatic, and I was not able to share the incident with anyone. After the incident, I spent the night in my hotel room in fear, thinking, what if people come and knock on my door? I was waiting for daylight,” she said.

Sreelekha said that she was not provided any travel tickets to return to her hometown and had to book her own flight back. She said that she did not get any opportunities in any Malayalam films after the incident. 

Her accusations against Ranjith were corroborated by documentary filmmaker Joshy Joseph, whom she had informed about the incident the same day. 

“After she met Ranjith, she called me. She sounded very traumatised over the phone. Later, I went and took her to my home to calm her down. On the way, she narrated the incident to me. I had shared the incident with a few others, including writer KR Meera. Though we thought of making it an issue back then, Mitra was hesitant,” Joshi was quoted as saying by The Hindu. 

Responding to the allegations, Ranjith claimed that they were fabricated. “I interacted with her in the presence of screenwriter Shankar Ramakrishnan and two assistants. After Ramakrishnan narrated the story to Sreelekha, she was excited. I had some confusion about which character should be given to her,” said Ranjith.

He claimed Sreelekha became angry when she was not given a role in the film. 

Despite Sreelekha’s accusations and Joshi corroborating it, Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian defended director Ranjith saying that a case will not be filed against him based on a mere allegation.

“Someone has raised a complaint publicly and the director has already denied the allegations publicly. If they formally register a complaint, it should be investigated. Without an investigation we can not assume the allegations against him are true. He completely denied it, so it needs to be subjected to an investigation,” Saji Cherian said.

The Minister said Ranjith is one of the talented artists that India has seen and said that a case can be filed only if a written complaint is given. He also added that the Kerala government stands with women. 

KPCC president K Sudhakaran demanded that the accused filmmaker be removed from the chairman post of Chalachitra Academy and an investigation should be initiated against him. 

However, the Minister said that the ruling CPI(M) has to decide whether to remove him as the Chairman or not.