Published 17:37 IST, April 26th 2020
Malayalam director Kamal denies charges of sexual harassment by aspiring actress; Read
Malayalam director Kamal was accused of sexual harassment by an aspiring actress on the sidelines of 'Aami.' He denied the charges and termed it 'baseless'.
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Veteran Malayalam director Kamal denied sexual harassment allegations against him by an aspiring actress. His comments came in the wake of the woman’s statements going viral in the media and social media. However, the filmmaker termed it ‘baseless’.
Reports claimed that an aspiring actress had lodged a complaint against Kamal for allegedly sexually abusing her on the sidelines of the film 2018 Aami, that starred Manju Warrier, who had replaced Vidya Balan.
She claimed in the complaint that the director had promised to cast her in his 2019 directorial Pranaya Meenukalude Kadal and took her to a flat and abused her. The actress further stated that a similar incident took place at his official residence.
In an interview with a media publication, Kamal stated that it was true that he received a notice from the actress about a year ago. He added that he consulted his lawyer, who asked him to wait for a follow-up action, and when that did not happen, he decided to not react to it.
Kamal also lashed out at a channel that broadcast the news for taking his reply on a question over his remuneration issue with a producer, as that about the sexual harassment case.
Kamal is also the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and believed that a fomer employee of the associaton, who had quit over internal conflicts, could be responsible for the resurfacing of the allegations. He termed it as ‘planned propaganda’, but stated that he did not have any evidence to prove the former employee was behind it.
Kamal also accused the channel of attacking him over his religion, calling him by Kamaluddin Mohamed Majid, though he said everyone knows him as just Kamal. The director also stated that he plans to file a defamation suit against those responsible, while denying the channel’s accusations that the case was settled out of court.
17:37 IST, April 26th 2020