Filmmaker Vinayan has levelled serious allegations against Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Chairman and filmmaker Ranjith, accusing him of attempting to influence the State film award jury’s decision-making regarding his film Pathonpatham Noottandu.
He accused Mr. Ranjith of pressurising the jury members against considering his film for the awards under any category. When The Hindu contacted Mr. Ranjith, he said he had chosen not to respond to such allegations.
Mr. Vinayan fired the first salvo two days back in a Facebook post, almost a week after the award declaration, in which he claimed that a senior member of the award jury had even informed the Cultural Affairs Minister’s office regarding the academy Chairman’s alleged attempts to influence the jury.
“Though my film Pathonpatham Noottandu was competing for the awards, I will not claim that it is a great film. But, does the Chalachitra Academy Chairman has the powers to meddle in the decision-making and control the jury members to ensure that those whom he has a personal dislike towards will not get the awards? Wouldn’t that amount to sheer abuse of his powers? When a jury member suggested the film as worth considering for the award for art direction, Mr. Ranjith strongly opposed it. He also intervened later to overturn the jury’s decision to give three awards for the film in the music and dubbing departments, but it did not succeed,” alleged Mr. Vinayan.
On Monday, he again shared another Facebook post with a sound clip of a jury member saying that Mr. Ranjith did not deserve to continue in the post. When The Hindu contacted Mr. Vinayan, he said he would move the High Court if Mr. Ranjith was not removed from the post.
“After the award was declared last week, I had only expressed gratitude for the three awards that my film got. But, two days back, I got several materials which pointed at the Chairman’s attempts to influence the jury. That is when I decided to speak out, because the issue is not whether my film got the award or not. Such attempts to influence the jury on the Chairman’s part sets a bad precedent, especially since he has three more years left in his term. If the government does not take any action, I will approach the court,” said Mr. Vinayan.
