Ranjith resigns as Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman following allegations of impropriety

Kerala State Film Academy chairman Ranjith submitted his resignation on Sunday. Allegations of inappropriate behavior were leveled against him Written by Bengali actress Srilekha Mitra. Mr Ranjit confirmed to The Hindu that he has submitted his resignation to Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian.

In a voice clip sent to the media, he said he did not want the situation he was facing as an individual to be used to malign the image of the state government that appointed him to the post. He said he would respond to the allegations legally and expressed confidence that the truth would come out one day. Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian told the media that Ranjit had informed him about the decision.

Mr Ranjit’s resignation has come at a time when Siddiqui resigns from the post of general secretary The resignation of the president of the Association of Malayalam Film Artistes (AMMA) comes following sexual harassment allegations levelled by actress Revathi Sampath. The resignation of two prominent personalities from the Malayalam film industry comes within a week of the publication of the Hema Committee report on issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

Ms Mitra had accused Ranjith of behaving inappropriately with her during the pre-production of the 2009 Malayalam film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirkolapathakathinte Katha. Her allegations were confirmed by documentary filmmaker Joshi Joseph, who said she had told him about the incident the same day. Mr Ranjith had denied the allegations, although he agreed that she had met him as part of an audition for the role in the presence of other crew members.

After the allegations were made on Friday, The state government came under heavy pressure There were demands from people in the film industry as well as from within the Opposition and even the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to force Mr Ranjith to resign, but Cultural Affairs Minister Cherian did not seem too keen on it. He had said that Ranjith, an acclaimed filmmaker, cannot be punished merely on the basis of allegations. He had said that if a formal complaint is received, strict action will be taken.