‘Memory card’ controversy rocks Malayalam actors’ body AMMA ahead of election

With hardly a week left for the election to its governing committee, the ‘memory card’ issue continues to rock the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) with its women members now resorting to petitions and counter petitions.

The allegation is that a meeting of AMMA’s women members held in 2018 in the wake of the formation of the Hema Committee by the Kerala government was videographed and preserved as a memory card. The dispute has now erupted over the whereabouts of the said memory card amid apprehensions of its leak, as the video footage reportedly had open revelations about bad experiences faced by some members. A section of actors, including Usha Haseena and Ponnamma Babu, has cornered their colleague Kukku Parameswaran over the matter.

Offended by the allegations, Ms. Parameswaran, who is contesting to the post of general secretary in the forthcoming election, has now lodged a petition with the State Police Chief naming her detractors for allegedly having engaged in a defamatory campaign against her, including on social media.

“I am being accused of something, which has nothing to do with me or to which I am not party of. Also, why raise a matter all these years later?” she told The Hindu.

She, however, declined to reveal the names mentioned in her petition. “I have named all those who have taken my name in the matter, is all what she would say,” she said.

Ms. Haseena countered it by a petition on her own to the State Police Chief, AMMA, the Chief Minister, Kerala State Women’s Commission and Kerala State Human Rights Commission.

“I was planning to move a petition to AMMA alone seeking clarity on the memory card since I was told not to move legally before the AMMA election. As the request was fair, I was prepared to oblige despite taking a legal advice. Then I came to know that she (Ms. Parameswaran) had moved a petition whereas we are the original complainants (when it comes to the memory card),” she said.

Ms. Babu said she would also a move a petition to AMMA over the memory card issue. “There is a WhatsApp group of women members of AMMA. Had the questions over the memory card been properly answered in that group, the issue could have been be settled there itself,” she said.

Things have been on the boil in AMMA ever since the election was declared. Actor Jagadeesh, who had thrown his hat into the ring by filing nominations to the post of president, withdrew it in the last minute following perceived objections. Baburaj was also forced to withdraw from contesting to the post of general secretary after a section of AMMA members publicly demanded for his withdrawal citing the allegations against him in the wake of the Hema Committee report.

Shweta Menon, who is contesting to the post of the president, has found herself slapped with a case allegedly for acting in movies with vulgar and obscene content for financial gains, though it was later stayed by the Kerala High Court. The case against Ms. Menon also led to mudslinging among the members.