ALAPPUZHA: A controversy has erupted over the upcoming Malayalam movie ‘Kurup’, a Dulquer Salmaan starrer, about the controversial murder of Chacko of Alappuzha by Sukumara Kurup in 1984. In a press conference at Alappuzha Press Club on Friday, Chacko’s son Jithin said, “My father is for me just like what Mammootty is for Dulquer Salmaan.”
In the teaser released prior to the release of the film, Dulquer, the hero of the film, says ‘ini njan vicharikkanam, enne pidikkan’ (now, I have to decide when I shall be caught), signalling the makeover of a killer to a hero. “This cannot be tolerated by us,” Jithin said.
“Just like every Malayali, I have also been frightened by the name of Kurup from childhood days, a heinous murder convict who had escaped the clutches of law. But in the film, the hero says this line giving an anti-hero image to Sukumara Kurup,” said Jithin, who is now 36. When his father was murdered, he was in her mother’s womb.
“The film sends out a wrong message and the younger generations will mistake Kurup for a hero. What is the role of my father in the film? The film producer and the actor are trying to glorify Kurup. The film must be released only after it is screened before us and objectionable parts are removed,” Jithin said. Chacko’s wife Santhamma also attended the press meet.
Chacko, who was a film representative, was murdered on January 21, 1984, when he was returning home from Karuvatta after work. The gang offered him a lift in their car and strangled him. After the murder, Chacko’s face was burnt in the car porch of Kurup’s house at Cheriyanad. The car was then pushed into a paddy filed at Kunnam near Mavelikkara, Chacko’s body was placed in the driver’s seat and the car burnt.
Sukumara Kurup, his brother-in-law Bhaskara Pillai and driver Ponnappan were the accused in the case, but Kurup absconded after the murder and he has never been caught. The murder was committed to claim Rs 8 lakh of assured amount in the insurance policy he had joined in Abu Dhabi. Jithin and his mother said they have sent a legal notice to Dulquer and the film’s producer demanding them to remove the objectionable portrayal of Kurup as a hero in the film.