Edavela Babu wanted me to 'adjust': Malayalam actor's metoo revelation
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Kochi: The Malayalam film industry is boiling hot with the release of the Justice Hema Committee report on the revelations by certain female artists about their bad experiences in the industry.
After the sexual abuse allegation against filmmaker Ranjith by a Bengali actress, Sreelekha Mitra, it is junior artist Jubitha Andy who issued a similar allegation against former General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movies Artists (AMMA), Edavela Babu, who is also an artist.
Jubitha told Mathrubhumi News that Babu offered her a permanent membership in AMMA without paying hefty fees if she was ok with "adjustment".
She stopped receiving movie offers after she refused to comply with Babu's demands, she said and also alleged that actor Sudheesh and director Harikumar also misbehaved with her.
Kerala Kaumudi reported that Jubitha said that Babu asked her to adjust for the membership fee of Rs 2 lakh, and if she cooperated, she would get movie offers also. Director Harikumar asked her to meet him for one more day. Even after the movie shooting, both were working wrapped up. She then said that actor Sudheesh asked her to go on a trip with him.
"He advised me that making certain adjustments was enough to secure a place in AMMA instead of paying the membership fees," Mathrubhumi quoted her.
Meanwhile, AMMA welcomed the findings of the Justice Hema Committee report on Friday. The organisation also sought to implement the committee's recommendations in its report, which probed the sexual exploitation and other problems women artists face in the Malayalam film industry.
Addressing the media at the AMMA office here, General Secretary and popular actor Siddique noted that they have been accused of staying silent and that there has been no response from the AMMA on the report. "What happened was that we were all busy with a charity show, and it got over early on Thursday morning. Then, we had a meeting with our office bearers, who were all in different locations. We never ran away," he said.