Bengali actor ‘misbehaved’: Kerala minister defends director Ranjith

Thiruvananthapuram, August 24 (IANS) With the Hema Commission report becoming the only point of contention in Kerala over the manner in which sexual exploitation takes place in the Malayalam film industry, Culture Minister Saji Cherian on Saturday strongly defended director Ranjith against the allegations levelled against him by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra.

Cherian defended Ranjith after state Congress president K. Sudhakaran and several others demanded Ranjith’s resignation as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

Cherian told the media on Saturday morning that he had also seen the accusation against Ranjith in the media.

“Ranjith said he is innocent. If someone has a complaint, it should be in writing and if that happens, an investigation will be conducted. He is India’s most popular artist and just on the basis of a statement, nothing can be done. A simple accusation is not enough, there has to be a written complaint and then there will be an investigation. Without that, nothing can be done. What if this turns out to be false,” Cherian asked.

Mitra recounted the incident that took place in Kochi in 2009 and that she had gone to an apartment where she met Ranjith and other members of his team to discuss a role in the film.

During the discussions, Ranjith had made advances towards her, which made her uncomfortable. She left the venue immediately after telling one of the team members that she would not be acting in the film, Mitra stated.

Now that the TV channels ran with it, Ranjith immediately denied that anything like that had happened. He said that she was asked to audition for his project.

“I didn’t come for the audition, but to act. It was to play a role. There is nothing political in this; I am also a leftist follower. I don’t want to come here to complain because I have worked here. The least I expect is an apology,” Mitra said.

Ranjith is not only an actor, director and producer, but also a very influential personality in left-wing political circles and within a section of the film industry.

Incidentally, the Ranjith issue came at a time when the Malayalam film industry is in a gloomy mood after the Hema Committee report was released early this week, almost five years after it was received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

While the Congress-led opposition criticised the Vijayana government for shielding the guilty during the Hema committee discussion, the issue has now acquired a political colour too.

Now even the Kerala High Court has given enough indications that the delay in the publication of the report by the Vijayan cannot be reversed, and all eyes are on the case that the court hears on September 10.