KOCHI: Malayalam actor Dileep has said that the thought of his daughter was what kept him from committing suicide, after facing a slew of rumours following the assault of a prominent south Indian woman actor.
“A couple of days after the shocking incident, the allegations sprouted by a Mumbai-based media house were propagated by the rest,” he said during a detailed visual interview to a prominent Malayalam media-house.
“It was the ‘online yellow publications’ which started it. But soon, even prominent media houses started carrying it. If she (the actor) had to undergo physical harassment, I had to undergo emotional harassment.”
Dileep felt that the alleged conspiracy was, in reality, against him. "The major allegation was that the attack was my revenge for getting a real estate deal in my ex-wife's name to mine. I have an offer. The media can take the property if they can find the details of the deal. Though I have great respect for the courage shown by the actor to come out of the ordeal, I am sad at her silence on this matter. She could have cleared my name by putting put up a post on social media stating that there was no such deal," Dileep said.
He added that it was he who had recommended her name for lead roles at the outset of her career.
In an all-out attack against his detractors, Dileep named a noted news anchor of a prominent TV channel and also hinted at his promiscuous nature.
“The fake news against me was placed on the front page of a prominent newspaper only because
of the intervention of an advertising agency, owned by a person who took a vow to oust me from the industry,” he said.
Dileep also went against the editor of a film magazine, who wrote a series of articles against him in the past few months. Dileep said the scribe held a grudge against him for reacting to fake news and not paying him as he demanded.
“Leave me alone because from now on, I will respond. Leave my personal life alone and I will leave yours alone. If I start talking, it will create a lot of trouble," he said.