Men at the dais of the 28th general body meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A) had two blanket answers for a multitude of questions they were asked at a press meet on Sunday, June 26. One is an answer to questions on the lackluster action taken towards Vijay Babu, producer and actor accused of rape of a woman actor – ‘but the case is under the consideration of the court’. Two is an answer to repeated questions on the recently disbanded Internal Committee (IC) of the association - 'why don't you ask any positive questions, instead of harping on these' – ‘these’ meaning issues of sexual assault and lack of an IC for women to make complaints at.
Both the answers may throw a dejavu at you, if you go back a few years and recall A.M.M.A's response when Dileep, a popular actor, became accused of masterminding the abduction and rape of a fellow actor. Some of the same members had given nearly the same answers back then — “but the case against Dileep is still under consideration, and why don't you ask about 'nice things'”. They had even used it as an excuse to reinstate Dileep into the association he was expelled from, a year after the assault. Four members of the association, including the survivor actor, resigned in protest. Finally, it was Dileep who chose not to join back, forcing A.M.M.A to say, “we can't expel someone who is not joining the association”.
Five years later, it is the same story all over again. Some of the main speakers at the Sunday meeting — Siddique, Edavela Babu, Mohanlal and Maniyanpilla Raju — repeatedly pointed out that Vijay Babu had “chosen” to stay away from the executive committee of the association, asking how they could expel someone who was already staying away. Edavela Babu, apparently irked by the barrage of questions, called the association a club and jokingly added that “Vijay is a member of many clubs in Kochi, A.M.M.A is only one of them”. In fact, Vijay Babu, who recently secured an anticipatory bail in the case, had also made an appearance at the general body meeting.
Even Vijay’s stepping down from the executive committee happened after the IC members of the time — Shwetha Menon, Maala Parvathi and Kukku Parameswaran — exerted pressure on the association to take action against the accused man, who had gone on to name the woman actor who lodged the complaint against him.
When action was delayed, A.M.M.A’s IC members barring Rachana Narayanankutty resigned one after the other. On Sunday, Shwetha, also seated at the dais, said that she resigned because A.M.M.A’s press notice had not mentioned IC when they announced Vijay Babu's decision to stay away. She also said that it seemed A.M.M.A did not need an IC, echoing a remark made by Edavela Babu, the general secretary. He insisted that the association was a club and not a trust, even as a reporter pointed out how that was technically incorrect. Babu further said that an IC would be formed as a single body for all of Malayalam cinema, after the association’s meeting with the women's commission.
The A.M.M.A. however appeared to have no qualms about taking action against another actor, Shammi Thilakan. Some initial reports said that Shammi, who has been vocal about the malpractices in the association and called it a ‘mafia gang’ among other names, was expelled during the meeting on Sunday. However, Siddique and Edavela Babu denied during the press meet that this was the case, adding that Shammi would be given another chance to explain his side before any action is taken against him.
Mohanlal, the president of the body, was mostly silent after announcing the decisions made at the general body meeting — to establish a geriatric centre to take care of the association’s members all their lives, and to increase the membership fee to Rs 2,05,000 including GST, so they could look after 120 struggling artistes. The only time he whispered something more, albeit without a microphone, was when Edavela Babu faced multiple questions about the IC. Unable to hide his frustration, he murmured that no positive questions were asked, repeating the reply he had once given after being asked about the nuns' protest in Kerala against Bishop Franco, who had then been accused of sexual assault.