After weeks of keeping quiet, Malayalam actor Mammootty has finally broken his silence on the issue faced by actress Parvathy, after she was attacked by a barrage of hateful comments and threats when she criticised his film Kasaba. Speaking to Manorama Online, the actor says that he had never asked anybody to defend or speak for him.
“I don’t go after any controversy. What we need are meaningful debates. I have not assigned anyone to respond on my behalf or defend me,” he said, adding that he couldn’t follow up on the issue as he was abroad. He further said that she assured him that nothing would happen after she texted him about the abuse she was facing.
Early this month, speaking at the Women in Cinema Collective at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), Parvathy spoke about a particular film she had the ‘bad luck’ of watching. She was referring to Kasaba, that released last year, where the superstar had uttered several misogynistic dialogues and rape threats.
“With all respect to the makers, the film disappointed me, as it featured a great actor spitting totally misogynistic dialogues. A lot of people feel cinema reflects life and society, so when a superstar mouths such a dialogue, people might think it’s sexy and cool,” Parvathy was quoted as saying.
Several fans of Mammootty took to tweeting abuses at her, questioning her for speaking ‘ill’ of their favourite star. The cyber-bullying has so far escalated to rape threats, acid attack, questioning her morals, character assassination, and so on.
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Thus far, two arrests been made after Parvathy had lodged a complaint with the Ernakulam police. The person arrested first was identified as Printo, a 24-year-old hailing from Wadakkanchery, and has been taken into custody. Another is a 23-year-old called Rojan who was arrested in Kollam. Rojan had allegedly sent Instagram messages to Parvathy threatening to rape her.
Meanwhile, according to an India Today report, Kasaba‘s producer Joby George has offered a job to Printo. Joby in his comment on Facebook said, “If you can contact me or come to my home or office, you have a job till I die, in India, UK, Dubai Australia or drop in your number I will call you.”