THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid his ongoing feud with Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman Ranjith, filmmaker Dr Biju stepped down from the director board of the state-run Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). When contacted, Dr Biju said the resignation was owing to ‘professional reasons’ and refused to divulge more details.
In a recent interaction with TNIE as part of the ‘Express Dialogues’ series, Ranjith had questioned Dr Biju’s ‘relevance’ and pointed out that his film Adrishya Jalakangal was not well received by the audience.
Adrishya Jalakangal was initially denied screening in the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram. The film, with Tovino Thomas in the lead, was later included in the ‘kaleidoscope’ section.
“Dr Biju’s film Adrishya Jalakangal was released in theatres. Have you enquired how many people watched it? Biju should realise that the audience went nowhere near the theatre,” Ranjith had said.
A day after the interview appeared, Dr Biju wrote an ‘open letter’ to Ranjith on his Facebook page. He said it was futile to speak about film festivals to a Chalachitra Academy chairman who had not participated in any film festival other than the ones held in Kerala and Goa.
“Ranjith is not the person to decide my relevance. I do not need the assessment of a person who does not know that there is a world of cinema beyond Kerala and India,” Biju had retorted.