THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid burgeoning cyber attack against actor Mammootty by right-wingers over one of his movies that was released in 2022, leading politicians from the left and Congress have thrown their weight behind the actor.
The right-wing groups targeted Mammootty alleging that his film 'Puzhu' had an anti-Brahmanical stand. What gave them fodder was the comments made by husband of Ratheena P T, who had directed the movie. Ratheena's husband in an interview with an online channel had alleged that the movie was against a specific community.
Expressing their solidarity with the 72-year-old actor, CPM leader and General Education Minister V Sivankutty uploaded a photo of him sharing space with Mammootty on Facebook page and wrote that the actor is the pride of Keralites. "Mammootty is Malayalees' pride," the minister said in the post.
CPI's Revenue Minister K Rajan also came out in support of Mammootty and alleged that Sangh Parivar politics was behind the hate campaign against the actor. " The Sanghi politics of calling Mammootty as Muhammed Kutty, (director) Kamal as Kamaludeen and (Tamil actor) Vijay as Joseph Vijay won't work here. This is Kerala," he wrote on social media.
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said Mammooty cannot be constrained to one religion or caste. "Those who are trying for that have precise political objectives. Kerala should safeguard him from such poisonous hate campaign," he wrote on social media. "Mammootty is being Mohammed Kutty only in the contemptuous minds of those hate campaigners," the leader added.
Some of them even used Mammootty's birth name, Muhammed Kutty, to criticise the national award-winning actor in connection with the film, which was a psychological drama directed by debutant filmmaker Ratheena P T.
The actor is yet to react to the controversy.
(With inputs from PTI)