BENGALURU:
Actor Prakash Raj on Tuesday clarified that he has not signed any memorandum against Mohanlal being invited as the chief guest at the upcoming Kerala State Film Awards. He said while he feels the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) was ‘insensitive’ in its decision to reinstate Dileep, he was not in favour of ‘singling out’ Mohanlal.
“There is a news going around that I have signed a memorandum against Mohanlalji attending the Kerala State Awards function. I have not signed any memorandum nor I’m aware of such memorandum. Yes, I have differences with the decision the AMMA has taken. And I have very clearly told my stance that I don’t accept it. It is insensitive to have taken such a decision,” he said.
Prakash Raj was said to be one of the signatories to the petition that was submitted to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan objecting his administration’s move to invite Mohanlal as the chief guest of the state-sponsored awards show. It all started when National Award-winning filmmaker Dr Biju shared the press release on his Facebook page, claiming endorsement of more than 100 members of the film fraternity against making an actor, whose work was also in the fray for the awards, as the chief guest of the function.
Biju’s petition to the government came just days after the filmmaker said he will skip the awards show if Mohanlal was made its chief guest. Not just Prakash, cinematographer Santosh Thundiyil also put out a statement on Tuesday rubbishing reports that suggested he was also against Mohanlal attending the film event.
“How can somebody think of avoiding Mohanlal by writing a memorandum..isn’t it insane, foolish..? I have not signed or written any thing against Mohanlal attending the award ceremony. Its being projected like I had made a statement or signed a letter requesting to avoid him from a function(sic),” he said in his Facebook page.
“The fact of the matter is that I have received a whats app message regarding the conduct of state award function and the format of the function for which I said yes, but in the message Mohanlal’s name was not mentioned at all.. if it was the case I would not have said yes . I feel cheated at this moment.. if it was a game plan against Mohanlal ?,” he added.
Terming Mohanlal as a ‘national monument’, Santosh said he will consider it as a ‘blessing’ to have the Pulimurugan star on stage.
