National award-winning director Joshy Joseph reiterated that he stands strongly with his friend and actress Sreelekha Mitra, who accused filmmaker Ranjith of sexually misbehaving with her years ago.
Ranjith, former chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy was forced to resign days after Mitra accused him of touching her inappropriately and intimidating her during a film discussion.
Joshy Joseph, one of the first persons to whom Mitra communicated immediately after the incident has come out in support of her, years later, when she finally decided to speak out. Joseph declared his decision to uphold his statement supporting the accusations of the actress, and commitment towards the issue.
It is Joseph's stint at the Film and TV division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that took him to Kolkata where he first met Sreelekha Mitra, a Bengali actress.
“She was always interested in south indian, especially Malayalam films, " said Joseph.
Mitra was offered a role in actor- director Ranjith's Paleri Manikyam and was asked to come down from Kolkata to Kochi for further discussions on the part, Joseph said.
“It was not just an audition. They had almost fixed her for a part in Paleri Manikyam. Director Ranjith met her along with Shankar Ramakrishnan, the producer of the film. They were meeting in Ranjith’s flat in Thammanam and that is where this happened,” he said.
Incidentally, Joseph's house also happened to be in Thammanam and being a friend Mitra called him immediately after the incident.
“I immediately went to pick her up and brought her back to my house. It was on the way over in the car that she told me everything,” Joseph said.
Joseph said he was unsure of what to do in the beginning but tried to get the details without being too inquisitive.
When asked why Mitra took such a long time to come out into the open, he said that she may have gained confidence over the years.
“The Hema Committee report played a big part in this, I must say”, he added.
When the incident happened they met with a social activist and a renowned writer in the state, Joseph said.
“They knew what had transpired,” he said.
Sreelekha wanted Ranjith to acknowledge what he had done as wrong and apologise, Joseph said.
“He needs to apologise, it’s as simple as that. But all I see is him showing shades of the feudalism that most of his heroes possess,” Joseph remarked.
Ranjith said that it was an audition, was he trying to devise some new type of audition or was he trying to imbibe the main character of that very movie? Joseph asked.
He also said it is funny that Ranjith remembers certain things about the day and chooses to forget certain others.
“It’s as though you remember to forget,” he said.
Joseph further said that Ranjith showing no remorse and refusing to apologise has forced him to push his friend to proceed with a legal complaint.
“Till now I had advised Sreelekha to take things slow and steady and to hold off from jumping into decisions. But since this man shows absolutely no remorse, I am going to persuade her to formally file a police complaint,” he said.
Speaking to the media the day after Mitra had accused him of sexually misbehaving with her, Ranjith termed the allegation as "fabricated." He also mentioned that Joshy Joseph used to be an old friend.
However, after mounting pressure on the Left government, Ranjith was asked to resign from his post as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra academy.
Ranjith's resignation came hours after another veteran actor, Siddique resigned from the post of general secretary of AMMA, after he was accused of sexually abusing an actor.