Mohanlal BREAKS SILENCE On AMMA Resignation Amid Sexual Assault Reports: 'I Have Not Fled Anywhere'

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has finally broken silence on his resignation as the 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 of things” are being said about his resignation.

Mohanlal clarified that he has not escaped responsibility with his decision and shared that he was busy with some personal work. “I have not fled anywhere. Because of my personal issues, I was not in Kerala. Because of my wife’s surgery, I had to be in hospital,” the actor said.

He further questioned those who are raising questions on AMMA and added, “The entire Malayalam cinema is answerable to the Hema committee report. What we are seeing is that all questions are directed only at AMMA.”

Mohanlal seemingly defended AMMA’s decision for joint resignation and continued by saying, “AMMA cannot give answer to all the questions. Everybody should be asked these questions. This is a very hard-working industry. A lot of people are involved in this. But not everyone is to be blamed for this.”

For the unversed, Mohanlal resigned as the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists earlier this week. He and his 17-member executive committee submitted a joint resignation after the findings of the Justice Hema Committee Report were made public and when a series of actresses accused actors, directors and producers in the Malayalam film industry of sexual misconduct.

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

“The first reaction I had when I heard the news about this collective resignation was, ‘how cowardly.’ How cowardly of them to step away from a position where they are accountable to speak to the media. That’s an immediate cop-out. With this, the onus has again fallen on women to take the conversations and debates forward. It would have been amazing if they had shown at least the intention to work with the state government and stakeholders to figure a way out,” Parvathy told journalist Barkha Dutt on her YouTube channel.