Malayalam superstar Mohanlal Terms #MeToo Movement as Mere ‘Fad’ That Has Short Lifespan

Mohanlal had recently come under attack for the way the kidnapping of an actress was handled.

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who had recently come under attack from the Women’s Collective in Cinema (WCC), for the way Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), of which he is the president, had handled a case involving the kidnapping of an actress, has now said that the #MeToo Movement is just a mere fad that is becoming some sort of a fashion and will not have a last long.

Mohanlal, who is an actor, producer and playback singer, was reported by Gulf News to have made the statement at a press conference in Dubai.

“There is no big problem in the Malayalam industry. You shouldn’t think of the #MeToo as a movement actually. It is a fad and it is turning into something of a fashion. Anything like that will have a lifespan for a bit,” Gulf News reported him as saying.

The actor was in the UAE to launch his charity fundraiser Onnanu Nammal, and when he was questioned more about his comments on the #MeToo Movement, he evaded the matter by saying that he did not know much about it. He is reported to have claimed that even men will have #MeToo stories to recount.

The WCC had come down heavily on Mohanlal after actor Dileep, who is the accused in the actress kidnapping case, was reinstated as a member of AMMA. This led to a huge controversy erupting as the move was deemed as anti-woman and anti-survivor.

At a press conference on October 13, WCC, led by actress Revathy, alleged that AMMA had not supported the victim whereas Dileep had got all the backing. Dileep was in jail for 85 days before he got bail.

About the case, the actress was allegedly abducted in February last year while she was travelling by road to Kochi. It was reported that she was held captive in a moving car for almost 2 hours and was allegedly molested by four men, who also took photos of the incident. The investigation led to six people being arrested, with one of them being the actress’ driver, who she had fired. During the probe, it emerged that the driver had been paid to carry out the attack on the actress.