KOCHI: Malayalam film industry, which has come under a cloud following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, suffered another setback on Friday with well-known Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra levelling accusations against filmmaker Ranjith. She alleged that the director misbehaved with her during the audition of his 2009 film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha.
Ranjith, who is also the chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, denied the allegations.
Talking to a news channel, Sreelekha said the incident happened when she arrived in Kerala to act in Ranjith’s film. “The filmmaker invited me to his bedroom, and during the chat he touched my bangles, pretending to be unaware about it. I was a little uncomfortable with it, but tried to continue the conversation. Upon seeing that I was not reacting, he started caressing my neck, which was unacceptable. I excused myself and left the room,” recalled Sreelekha.
“It was traumatic, and I was not able to share the incident with anyone. After the incident, I stayed in the hotel with fear, thinking, what if 10 people come and knock on my door? I was waiting for the daylight to break in,” she said.
‘Allegations fabricated’
She added that she was not even provided any travel tickets to return to her hometown. Following the incident, the actor, who was interested in Malayalam films, stopped pursuing them. Sreelekha said she was not shocked and knew it happens in the film industry across the world.
Meanwhile, Ranjith termed the allegations as fabricated.
The filmmaker said he met Sreelekha at his flat in Ernakulam. “I interacted with her in the presence of screenwriter Shankar Ramakrishnan and two assistants. After Shankar narrated the story to Sreelekha, she was excited. I had some confusion about which character should be given to her,” said Ranjith.
“Later, a decision was taken not to cast her, and Shankar was asked to inform her about it,” he said. “It’s not my style to tell actors outright that there are no roles,” he said. According to him, Mitra was furious when informed that there was no role for her in the film, and questioned why she was called if that was the case.
“Shankar then told her said that I had informed him that Mitra could not be considered for the roles of either Cheeru or her daughter in Paleri Manikyam. That’s where it ended,” added Ranjith.
“The claims about touching her bangles and hair are all made up. I don’t know whose cleverness or foolishness this is,” he said.
‘PROBE ALLEGATIONS RAISED BY BENGALI ACTOR’
State Congress president K Sudhakaran demanded an urgent probe into allegations raised against the Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra. He alleged that a three-member group has a role in omitting more portions of the Hema committee report.
