KOCHI: National award-winning Malayalam filmmaker Anil Radhakrishnan Menon allegedly insulted 'Theri' actor Bineesh Bastin by saying that he could not share the dais with a 'third-rate' actor who comes to him to seek roles in films.
Menon and Bastin were both invited to the Government Medical College in Palakkad for their annual college day function on October 31. The director was scheduled to launch their college magazine while the actor was called as their chief guest. However, about an hour before the event, the college principal and the union chairman reportedly reached the hotel where Bastin was staying and asked him to arrive at the venue one hour after the inauguration ceremony so that the director could finish his program and leave.
According to a Facebook post by Sahin Antony, a friend of Bastin, the college authorities had told the actor that Menon had threatened to walk off the stage if the actor came to the event. The filmmaker had apparently told the college authorities that he "can't share the dais with a third-rate actor who has approached him for chances in his films".
35-year-old actor Bastin, however, refused to buckle down and went straight to the venue when Menon was speaking and sat on the stage to applause from the students. In the video uploaded by Antony, which has gone viral, the principal can be seen trying to stop Bastin, even going on to threaten that he would call the police. Bastin, on his part, said that he had come on the invitation of the college union. Menon, meanwhile, stopped his speech and walked out, as can be seen in the video.
"I need 30 seconds on this stage," Bineesh announced as the organisers continued their efforts to make him get up from the floor of the stage. "This is the most insulting day of my life. An hour ago, your chairman told me that I can't be here as 'Anilettan' won't attend the programme if I am present," he told the gathering.
Bastin said that the filmmaker has ridiculed him as he was not from an upper caste like him. "I've never felt so insulted before. I'm not a Menon. I have not won a national award. I am a tile worker who struggled for 12 years in the industry. You can't humiliate any individual like this," Bineesh said, as Anil is seen walking out.
Bineesh said that he was illiterate but he was at the end of the day, a human being who works for a living.
He took out a small note from his pocket and read out lines recited by the Left in Kerala, "Religion is not the issue - the fire in a man's belly is. Doesn't matter what your religion is - it matters how you will live..."
"With your permission, I am taking my leave now. I have been to some 220 colleges so far though I am a headload worker. Apologies and I wish your special day all the very best," he said before leaving the stage.
Incidentally, the SFI, the student wing of the ruling CPM, is currently heading the student union at Palakkad Medical College.
Anil Radhakrishnan Menon's directorial debut 'North 24 Kaatham' (2013) won the National Film award for the best feature film in Malayalam. Bineesh Bastin, who starred in Vijay-starrer 'Theri', has acted in few Malayalam films like 'Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan'.
Matter snowballs into controversy
Soon after the video surfaced, a huge uproar against Anil Radhakrishnan Menon erupted on social media, with people demanding an apology, even calling for a boycott of his upcoming projects.
Minister for welfare of SC/ ST AK Balan has summoned the Medical College principal to Thiruvananthapuram for an explanation on the matter.
Meanwhile, director B Unnikrishnan, who is also the general secretary of Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), has expressed shock and apologised to the actor on behalf of the film industry.
(With online desk inputs)