'Mammootty's caste and religion is all cinema, secular society of Kerala will not cooperate with efforts to slander a person with sense of acting'; Venugopal with Facebook post

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal has come out in support of national award-winning veteran actor Mammootty, who has been facing virulent online criticism in connection with his 2022 released film 'Puzhu'.

Venugopal took to his social media account to lash out in Malayalam against the hate speech directed against Mammootty. Recently posts on social media platforms claimed that the movie 'Puzhu' released in 2022 was anti-Brahmanical.

Venugopal's post read, "From a 20-year-old boy who stood beside actor Bahadur for the first time in the silver light in a minute-long scene in Sathyan Mash's last film 'Anubhavangal Palichakal', he went on to become the voice and face of Malayalam cinema. The name Mammootty stands among the actors who have given Malayalam cinema a beautiful address at the top of world cinema during his half-century of career."

Venugopal highlighted the efforts by 72-year-old Mammootty for Malayalam cinema. "When Malayalam cinema was going through historical stages of its growth, actor Mammootty was able to shoulder it alone and overcome the weaknesses. Mammootty has been able to simultaneously be the figure of authority in Bhaskara Patel and the figure of a subordinate in 'Ponthanmada'. That man cannot be tied to the framework of any religion or caste. Only those with specific political goals were behind it. The fact that Mammootty is still Muhammad Kutty today is due to the hatred in the minds of those hate mongers. "

He concluded his post, "The secular society of Kerala will not cooperate no matter how much they try to slander a person with a correct political view and sense of acting. Mammootty's caste and religion are the same as Mammootty's voice and face seen in Malayalee meals and sleep for fifty years. It is Kerala that needs to wrap Malayalam's Mammootty away from the poison of hate campaigns. It has no colour of politics, no colour. Mammootty alone is enough."

The husband of Ratheena PT, the debutant director of the film 'Puzhu' had in a recent interview claimed that the movie was against a particular community and criticised Mammootty for doing the film. The video of the interview was shared widely online.