Senior actor Devan said in Kochi on Wednesday said that he has no plans to withdraw from the contest for the post of president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA).
He denied reports that he may withdraw his nomination to pave way for the election of a woman to the top post in the actorsâ body. âI had hoped that senior actors Mohanlal or Mammootty wiouold lead the organisation. I had decided to file the nomination for the post of president only after Mr. Mohanlal decided that he will not contest,â he said.
Mr. Devan said that the members of the association have the right to register their vote against people facing various allegations. He was responding to queries on the opposition by a section of the members against the nomination filed by actor Baburaj, who had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, for the post of general secretary.
Actors like Dileep, Sididque, Edavela Babu, Vijay Babu had tendered their resignations earlier after they had faced such allegations, he said.
On reports that actor Jagadeesh may withdraw his nomination for the post of president to pave way for the election of a woman candidate to the top post, Mr. Devan said that women had every right to assume leadership roles in any organisation. But it should not be at the mercy of men. It would be an insult to actor Swetha Menon, who is contesting for the post of president, if Mr. Jagadeesh has to withdraw from the race for her, he said.
The actor stated that Mr. Mohanlal was deeply pained after he was attacked from various quarters after the release of the K. Hema committee report on the problems faced by women in Malayalam film industry.
Published â July 30, 2025 06:19 pm IST
