Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly a year after the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) elected its first-ever woman president in the wake of the Hema Committee report, the organisation has been plunged into crisis, with a section of its own women members accusing former president Shwetha Menon of attempting to enforce a “BJP agenda” and communalise the actors’ body amid an escalating leadership battle.
Menon had announced her resignation from the post and AMMA membership a fortnight ago following allegations of financial irregularities.
On Saturday, a group of women members led by actor Mala Parvathy addressed a press conference, alleging that the organisation’s first woman president had attempted to push a political and communal agenda within the association.
They claimed that allegations were raised during the general body meeting that Menon had “secured Rs 2 crore from the BJP”. Along with Mala, actor Ansiba Hassan, former joint secretary of the association, and actors Usha Haseena and Maya Viswanath, also attended the press meet.
Mala also played a video purportedly showing a BJP functionary claiming that an industrial group would “provide Rs 15 crore to AMMA” through Menon.
“It is a functionary of a political party saying that a multinational company would bring money to the organisation. She (the functionary) is not even a member of AMMA. We don’t know what her connection with AMMA is. We don’t need money from that company,” Mala said.
She added that while the organisation had no objection to the personal political affiliations of its members, it would oppose any attempt to impose the agenda of a political party on AMMA.
Mala further alleged that former joint secretary Hassan was forced to resign after a communal narrative was built around her. According to Mala, Menon had pressured her to support allegations that Hassan was attempting to convert members of the film fraternity to Islam and had threatened to isolate her from the industry if she refused.
“I believe people who try to divide others on communal lines should not lead this organisation. I believe I have a responsibility to Kerala, and I want to prevent another ‘Kerala Story’ from unfolding here,” she said.
Advocate K.S. Shaiju, president of the BJP’s unit in Ernakulam, told ThePrint that the party was not aware of the issue at AMMA. “The BJP is not bothered about this allegation as it’s an interpersonal conflict in the organisation,” Shaiju said.
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Controversial past, fresh crisis
Established in 1994, AMMA elected a woman to its top leadership for the first time in August 2025 following the Hema Committee report. The election was necessitated after the Mohanlal-led executive committee resigned in August 2024 following the publication of the report that documented widespread sexual harassment and systemic discrimination faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
Although the committee had submitted its report to the Kerala government in December 2019, it was made public only in August 2024.
Menon was elected president, Kukku Parameswaran became general secretary, Lakshmi Priya and Jayan Cherthala were elected vice-presidents, Unni Shivapal became treasurer, while Hassan had earlier been elected unopposed as joint secretary.
The current crisis goes back to February this year, when Hassan resigned following a series of internal disputes. One of the triggers was her objection to the Vennala Thykattu Sri Mahadeva Temple Trust sponsoring an AMMA reunion event.
Hassan said she faced communal remarks and harassment within the executive committee over the issue, alleging that actor Tiny Tom had called her a “jihadi”. She also accused actor Lakshmi Priya of filing a false complaint against her, which she claimed resulted in her being illegally detained by the police.
Dramatic scenes unfolded at AMMA’s general body meeting in Kochi on 21 June, when Menon announced that she, along with the 17-member executive committee, was resigning from the organisation amid mounting allegations of financial irregularities and internal discord. Announcing her resignation, she said she was unwilling to remain a “puppet” in the hands of certain individuals.
However, on Friday, she declared on social media that she had not “abandoned” AMMA and questioned the legality of the ad hoc committee constituted after the 21 June resignations.
Soon afterwards, an audio clip of an alleged phone conversation between Menon and actor-MLA Ramesh Pisharody surfaced, in which Menon was purportedly heard alleging that there had been a coordinated attempt by a section of members to topple the elected executive committee and claiming there were irregularities in the accounts of the previous committee.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)