Two women actors — Swetha Menon, and Kukku Parameswaran — are in the fray for the post of president and secretary respectively when the deadline for withdrawal of nominations for the election to the executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) ended on Thursday evening.
Ms. Menon will battle it out with actor Devan for the top post. Ms. Parameswaran will face actor Raveendran in the contest for the post of secretary. The election is scheduled on August 15. Actor Ansiba Hassan was elected joint secretary as all others who had submitted their nominations for the post withdrew from the contest.
Actors Unni Sivapal and Anoop Chandran will vie for the post of treasurer. Those remaining in the fray for the vice-president posts include Jayan Cherthala, Lakshmipriya, and Nasser Latheef.
Baburaj, Jagadeesh opt out
The last day for the withdrawal of nominations had all the elements of a potboiler as actor Baburaj, who had filed the nomination for the post of secretary, opted out of the race amidst criticism by a section of the actors that those who are facing allegations of sexual misconduct must stay away from the election. In a Facebook post, he said that he was quitting from all works related to the association. This was not out of fear, he said.
Mr. Baburaj said that he was pained by the allegations raised against him by some of the members, despite having worked in the association for the last eight years. “They could have defeated me after going through the electoral process. That would have been democratic. But I am unable to move ahead facing the allegations,” he said.
Actor Jagadeesh opted out of the race for the post of president after he spoke with senior actors, including Mohanlal, Mammootty and Suresh Gopi. It was stated that he decided to withdraw from the fray amid the support from various quarters for a woman president.
Published – July 31, 2025 06:40 pm IST
