Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has reportedly instructed the Department of Cultural Affairs to conduct an inquiry into filmmaker Vinayan's complaint against Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairperson Ranjith, who as per Vinayan’s allegations misused his position to influence the jury of the 2022 state film awards. While submitting his complaint to the CM on Wednesday, August 2, Vinayan submitted audio clips purportedly of two jury members — filmmaker Nemom Pushparaj and singer Jency Gregory — as evidence to corroborate his allegations.

Soon after the results of the Kerala State Film Awards were announced on July 21, the Pathonpatham Noottandu director had in a series of Facebook posts accused Ranjith of interfering in the selection process and deliberately excluding his period drama from the final list. Vinayan also said that no action was taken even though he had informed the concerned office-bearers.

In the wake of Vinayan’s complaint, the Movement of Independent Cinema (MIC), a group of independent filmmakers and film enthusiasts in Kerala, have also come out with scathing criticism against Ranjith, stating that he was not suitable to remain in the position of the Chalachitra Academy chair. They alleged that this was the second time that Ranjith has been proved to have interfered in the award selection process, citing allegations from last year that the Ravanaprabhu director had indulged in favouritism and used his influence to reward certain films that were rejected by the jury in preliminary rounds.

The All India Youth Front (AIYF), the youth wing of the Communist Party of India, also urged CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cheriyan to direct an external agency to probe the allegations against Ranjith.

Minister Saji Cheriyan, meanwhile, rejected the allegations against Ranjith at a press meet on Tuesday, referring to the filmmaker as a “gentleman” and a “legend”. The minister said Ranjith had no role in the award selection process and that such responsibilities were entirely in the hands of the award jury chaired by Bengali filmmaker Goutam Ghose. Ghose also backed Ranjith, and told the media that there had been no external interference in the jury’s decisions and that the selection was free and fair.

(With IANS inputs)