Acclaimed director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has announced that he is pulling out his 'Sexy Durga' from the International Film Festival of Kerala.
Earlier, it was reported that the decision was taken due to 'Sexy Durga' being overlooked by the Chalachitra Academy for Competition category and instead it being included in the 'Malayalam Cinema Today' section.
He later clarified his decision to withdraw the film was not because it did not get selected for the Competition section but " in protest of the wilful insult from the side of the Kerala Chalachithra Academy and IFFK in putting the film which have already gained international reputation by winning multiple International awards in a much insignificant corner of the festival named Malayalam cinema today."
'Randu Per' by Prem Shankar, 'Aden' by Sanju Surendran are the only two Malayalam films in the competition section.
The 'Malayalam Cinema Today' section has Lijo Jose Pellieserry's 'Angamali Diaries', Salim Kumar's 'Karutha Joothan', Prasanth Vijayan's 'Athishayangalude Venal', 'Dileesh Pothan's 'Thjondimuthalum Driksakshiyum' and 'Maravi'.
Read Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's Facebook post here:
Sexy Durga is a thriller about a couple who elopes in the middle of the night and hitch a ride with four men.
Sanal Kumar had earlier won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Director for his second film, 'Oraalppokkam' in 2014. Sexy Durga is his third feature film. 'Sexy Durga' had earlier won the Hivos Tiger Award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2017.