Not right to ban anyone in film industry, says Mammootty

Senior actor Mammootty has said that it is not right to ban anyone in the film industry.

“There should be no ban on anybody. Why should we deny someone’s daily bread? Denying somebody work is wrong,” he said at an event to promote his new movie “Rorschach” here. The actor was responding to the decision by the Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) not to cooperate with actor Sreenath Bhasi for the time being after he allegedly hurled abuses at a woman anchor while giving an interview for a digital channel.

Mr. Mammootty initially responded to the query by saying that there was no ban on Mr. Bhasi. “It has been removed. That is what I have learnt,” he said.

Reacting to the actor’s comments, a senior representative of KFPA said that the organisation would not like to respond to the views of a senior actor like Mammootty. “However, we would like to clarify that the association has not imposed a ban on Mr. Bhasi as we do not have the powers to deny work to anyone,” he said.

The office-bearer said that the decision was not to work with Mr. Bhasi for the time being as the actor himself had admitted that he would come clear of the complaints against him lodged by some producers who had engaged him in their productions. “He has agreed to complete the dubbing of four movies, which has been delayed for some time owing to his non-cooperation,” he said.

On why the association had failed to take a similar position against actor-producer Vijay Babu who was arrested on the charge of raping a young actor, the KFPA representative clarified that Mr. Babu was not a member of the association. On whether their decision not to cooperate with Mr. Bhasi holds any relevance after the mutual agreement between the actor and the complainant, the association said that its decision would stand in view of the complaints lodged against him by its members.