Director Kamal Calls Communal Slur Allegations Raised by Ansiba Serious

Kochi: Filmmaker Kamal has said that actress Ansiba Hassan's allegations that she was targeted on religious grounds are serious. Reports that Ansiba was called a "terrorist" and a "jihadi" are deeply troubling, he said. He called on the actors' organisation AMMA to hear her out, noting that Ansiba is not someone who would make such claims without basis. Such an incident, he said, should never be allowed to happen in Malayalam cinema. Even if intended as a joke, any such remark by anyone warrants serious scrutiny by the organisation, Kamal told the media.

He said it was important to recognise the various ways in which the Sangh Parivar and its ideology have been making inroads into Kerala society, with subtle and overt reverberations also surfacing within Malayalam cinema in various forms. Malayalam cinema, he said, has always stood on a secular foundation, and cinema must never be allowed to erode the secular spirit of the Malayali mind. Films that spread hatred, like "The Kerala Story," should have no place in Malayalam cinema.

Kamal said he had no objection to building memorials for departed film personalities, but questioned whether it was practical to build a separate memorial for each individual in a different location. He recalled that the previous LDF government had a project to build cultural complexes in every district, which was completed in only a few districts. He suggested that a single cultural centre be built at one location to honour the memory of departed film personalities collectively, rather than scattering memorials across the state.