Even as the week-long 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is set to conclude here on Friday, trouble seems to be brewing within the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organiser of the festival, with a group of nine members of the academy’s general council demanding the State government to remove chairman Ranjith, who has been in the middle of a controversy over a series of comments he made to the press.
The nine members held a meeting on Thursday and shot off a letter to the government demanding action against Mr. Ranjith.
According to a member of the general council, who spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, a majority of the council members have been finding it difficult to work with Mr. Ranjith due to his high-handed behaviour as well as his public comments, which is widely being perceived as bringing disrepute to the academy. Things came to a head on Wednesday after he responded inappropriately to a woman member of the council, said the member.
