Mohanlal breaks silence on AMMA resignation following sexual assault reports: ‘I haven’t fled anywhere’

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has finally broken his silence on his resignation as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). On Saturday, the actor attended an event in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kerala, when he admitted that “a lot” was being said about his resignation.

Mohanlal clarified that he was not shirking responsibility with his decision and shared that he was busy with personal work. “I did not run away anywhere. I was not in Kerala due to my personal problems. I had to go to the hospital because of my wife's surgery,” the actor said.

He also questioned those who are asking questions about AMMA, adding, “The entire Malayalam cinema is answerable to the Hema Committee report. What we see is that all questions are directed only to AMMA.”

Mohanlal appeared to defend AMMA's decision to resign collectively and further said, “The AMMA cannot answer all the questions. These questions should be asked to everyone. This is a very labour-intensive industry. Many people are involved in it. But not everyone is responsible for it.”

For those who don't know, Mohanlal resigned as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists earlier this week. He and his 17-member executive committee jointly submitted their resignations after the findings of the Justice Hema Committee report were released and a number of actresses accused actors, directors and producers in the Malayalam film industry of sexual misconduct.

However, Mohanlal's decision was criticised by many. Recently, actress Parvathy Thiruvothu, who is also a founding member of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), also questioned Mohanlal's decision and called him a coward.

“My first reaction when I heard the news of this collective resignation was, 'How cowardly.' How cowardly of them to step down from a position where they have the responsibility to talk to the media. This is an instant excuse. This puts the onus of taking the conversation and debate forward back on women. It would have been great if they had at least shown an intention to work with the state government and stakeholders to find a way out,” Parvathy told journalist Barkha Dutt on her YouTube channel.