A major controversy has erupted after a CPI(M) member accused Malayalam superstar Mammootty of being a “Jihadi”. In a recent interview, Mohammed Sharshad Baniyandy, a Chennai-based businessman and CPI(M) member alleged that his estranged wife Ratheena PT and the scriptwriter Harshad conspired to make an anti-Hindu and anti “upper-caste” movie starring Mammootty. A Pioneer report, however, says that Ratheena PT was “forced” by Mammootty to direct a movie projecting Hindus in bad light.
The movie at the heart of the controversy is the 2022 Malayalam release titled “Puzhu” in which Mammootty played the role of an “upper caste” IPS officer who hates his sister for eloping with a Dalit man.
“Puzhu created some controversy in Kerala but the producer laughed all his way to the bank. What made Ratheena take up the Puzhu project instead of the script she had completed was the directive of Mammootty. What Ratheena had hoped was to make a light-hearted entertainer starring Mammootty and she was forced to toe the superstar’s line,” Sharshad said, adding that the film’s writer Harshad is an “Islamic extremist.”
According to reports, Sharshad claimed that Mammootty was meant to work on another script by Ratheena, however, the Puzhu project was launched quickly instead. He stated that he had taken issue with his wife working on her first major film, which featured a storyline that inaccurately portrayed a member of the upper caste. He continued by accusing her estranged wife of having had some “outside interventions that injected the idea” in her head.
Reports say that Mohammed Sharshad’s estranged wife Ratheena PT secured a restraining order in a domestic violence case.
Notably, Mammootty has been the chairman of the ruling CPI(M) backed news channel Kairali TV since 2000. The actor’s closeness with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also widely known. Back in 2007, Mammooty attended the all-India conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and said “If DYFI-CPI(M)’s youth wing was active in Gujarat, the state would not have had the riots of 2002.”
His comments back then had triggered an outrage by BJP and Congress party who tore down Mamootty’s posters, with CPI(M)’s Pinarayi Vijayan coming to the actor’s rescue saying that his party would “resist moves to curtail his freedom to speak.”
Right after Sharshad made comments alleging Mammootty’s links to Jihadi organizations, the CPI(M) and Congress leaders came out in his defence. CPI(M) MLA KT Jaleel, the former minister and former president of the banned Islamist terrorist group SIMI, was also among those attacking the RSS-BJP over the “Jihadi” allegations against the Malayalam actor. Besides, Kerala ministers V Sivankutty and K Rajan and Congress leader KC Venugopal extended support to the actor amidst an outrage over social media. The CPI(M) leaders called the Mammootty Kerala’s pride and alleged that “Sangh Parivar politics” was behind the online attack on the actor.
Note: There is a rumour that Sharshad has retracted all statements made, but OpIndia is unable to access any official statement yet. This report is made as per the video available publicly.
