Four leading actresses in the Malayalam film industry resigned from the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) on Wednesday over reinstatement of actor Dileep into the artistes body.
Actor Dileep is an accused in the February 2017 actress kidnapping case that landed him in jail for 85 days.
The kidnap victim is among the four actresses who resigned over the row. The other three are Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambisan and Geetu Mohandas.
They announced their decision to resign on the official Facebook site of the newly formed Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), led by Dileep’s former wife Manju Warrier.
Soon after Dileep’s reinstatement was finalised at the annual general body meeting of AMMA held in Kochi on Sunday, the WCC had expressed its displeasure.
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The victim in the kidnapping case noted in the post: “In the past when this star had thwarted to keep me away from films by denying opportunities to me, I did approach the organisation, but no action came up.
“And now when I have gone through very tough times, the organisation appears to be protective of this person and hence I feel there is no point in being a member of this organisation.”
Remya Nambisan posted that she was resigning as AMMA had taken the most irresponsible decision with regards to the trials and tribulations faced by her co-actress.
“AMMA has taken a very inhuman stand against my actress colleague and hence I am resigning…,” said Nambisan.
“I feel I should have resigned long back because AMMA does not want any member to question their decisions. I cannot stand such acts again…,” said Geetu Mohandas, a former executive member of AMMA.
Rima Kallingal said in her post: “I decided to resign for the upcoming generation who will be able to pursue their profession without making any compromises.”
Late thespian actor Thilakan’s daughter, Sonia Thilakan also slammed AMMA for having different standards for Dileep and her father, who was suspended in 2010 for criticising AMMA.
(With agency inputs)