Malayalam music director Ramesh Narayan made headlines after he allegedly refused to accept an award from actor Asif Ali at the trailer launch of Manorathangal, a nine-part anthology series written by Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair, in Kochi, Kerala on Monday.
Soon after the video went viral, Ramesh was slammed brutally for 'insulting' Asif in public. After which, the music director apologised and called Ali 'one of his favourite actors in this generation.'
Speaking to Malayalam news portal The Fourth, Ramesh said, "Asif Ali is one of my favourite actors in this generation. Actors like Fahadh (Faasil) and Asif Ali are the future of our cinema. I never complained to Aswathi, but I did tell her that I felt hurt when my name was excluded. Every other composer and other crew members were invited, but not me.”
He added that he did not insult Asif Ali and that the situation was a result of misunderstandings. Ramesh explained that after the trailer launch, everyone was given mementoes except for him, which made him upset. As he had to leave for Thiruvananthapuram soon, he approached Aswathi, MT’s daughter and the creative producer of the show, to say goodbye and express his sadness at not being invited. She later apologised and quickly arranged a memento for him.
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Ramesh said, “However, the name announced was ‘Santosh Narayanan.’ After that, Asif came and handed me the memento and left. Before it was clear whether Asif was giving me the memento or I was giving it to him, Asif had left without greeting. That’s when I called Jayaraj."
"It is true that I didn’t notice Asif, but I neither insulted nor discriminated against him. Jayaraj sent a message this morning apologising for the incidents that happened there. Isn’t this just a memento and not an award for which one would insist on a specific person presenting it to them? These are the facts and those launching cyberattacks are reacting without understanding the situation,” the composer added.
