One woman has the guts to fight, says Manju Warrier

Actor Manju Warrier has come out in public to support the survivors speaking against abuse in the Malayalam film industry. In her recent instagram post, she appreciated their boldness and stressed the significance of what they did. “Let’s recall that all these just started because one woman had the guts to fight,” she noted.

The statement of Warrier follows some major happenings within the industry like Siddique, an actor resigning as General Secretary of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and Ranjith a director resigning as Chairman Kerala Chalachitra Academy. The above resignations were triggered by serious accusations made by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra on Ranjith.

Mitra was part of Paleri Manikyam released between 2009-2010 where she accused Ranjith had indecent behavior towards her during shoot making her feel unsafe and disturbed. There is a particular case which haunted her when she was afraid to spend a night at her hotel because of Ranjith’s behavior.

The Siddique case dates back to 2016 when he was accused of molesting a young actress. After this report was released, the girl reinstated that Siddique took advantage of her sexually at Muscat Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in quest for a film job.

The Hema Committee report has unearthed several more allegations against established figures in the Malayalam movie fraternity, unearthing additional malpractice cases and igniting a wider debate on responsibility and fairness in the field.