Veteran actor Mohanlal made his first public appearance on Saturday (August 31), days after resigning as the President of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) amid the Mollywood #MeToo movement. The actor revealed why he was unavailable since the last few days and also opened up about the sexual harassment cases that are coming to forth by Malayalam celebrities.
After greeting the audience with folded hands during the inaugural ceremony of Kerala Cricket League in Thiruvananthapuram, Mohanlal tlked about Kerala government's decision to release the Hema Committee report.
Reacting to the findings of the report, Mohanlal stated, "I'm not part of any power group in Malayalam film industry, I am also not aware of any such group. Wrongdoers should be punished if there is evidence against them."
Mohanlal maintained that the Malayalam film industry should be protected. "Other industries should also have a Hema Committee report. Let this be a significant moment in the film industry, starting with Malayalam cinema. We need to reconstruct this industry. Actors in this industry are people who get excited and emotional very quickly, and when something like this happens, they are deeply affected by it," he said during the event.
"Perpetrators must be punished. Let the state government take the decisions. Please don't destroy the film industry," he urged.
The Drishyam actor also mentioned that he was busy with his family as his wife was undergoing a surgery so couldn't respond to the issue earlier.
On August 27, Mohanlal resigned as President of AMMA, amid the findings of the Justice Hema Committee and the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against some of Mollywood's biggest names, including actor Siddique and filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan.
Along with him, all the members of the executive committee submitted their joint resignations.
The Justice Hema Committee report was released by the Kerala government on August 19, 2024. It was established in response to the 2017 actress assault case in the Malayalam cinema.
