Turmoil in Tinsel Town: Malayalam movie actors’ fights turn from reel to real
On June 21, 2026, a balmy Sunday morning, Malayalam movie stars had started arriving in their luxury vehicles at a convention centre in Ernakulam. Waving
On June 21, 2026, a balmy Sunday morning, Malayalam movie stars had started arriving in their luxury vehicles at a convention centre in Ernakulam. Waving and exchanging pleasantries with a battery of media persons who eagerly clicked pictures and took visuals of the stars of tinsel town, they walked into the conference hall where the annual general body meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) was scheduled to be held. Inside the hall, they smiled and hugged each other, shook hands with some, and engaged in small talk. The atmosphere was all amiable, pleasant and genial. None had an idea that it was the calm before the storm. A few minutes into the proceedings, a raging Shwetha Menon, the first woman president of the actors’ body, stormed out of the meeting, announcing her resignation from the post. It was a no-confidence motion moved against her by a section of the members that provoked Shwetha to announce her resignation. An incensed Shwetha also announced that she was quitting from the primary membership of the organisation. The war of words begins What unfolded after her announcement was a full-fledged war of words among various actors, reportedly owing allegiance to various factions and groups in the organisation. Shwetha, who was elected to the president’s post less than a year ago, defends her decision to call it a day. “I decided to quit as I was unwilling to be a puppet in the organisation,” she asserts. The latest crisis in the actors’ body began with Ansiba Hassan, who had stepped down as joint secretary of the organisation four months ago, accusing her former colleague on the executive committee Tiny Tom of making communal and defamatory remarks against her. Thus began the ugliest public spat among the members the association, having a strength of around 500 actors, since its formation. A slew of incidents and police complaints by warring members followed the tempestuous annual general body meeting. “It was a historic meeting on all counts,” notes Ansiba, who shot to fame through the Mohanlal-starrer Drishyam franchise, about the outcome of the meeting. Courtroom battles The simmering distrust in the association has now boiled over to a protracted courtroom battle. On her part, Shwetha reversed her decision to step down and opposed the formation of an ad-hoc committee to run the affairs of the association till new office-bearers are elected. The Ernakulam Munsiff Court has stayed the functioning of the ad-hoc body till it issues further directives. Launched in 1994 after several actors voiced support “for an organisation to protect the interests of the fraternity,” the association of actors seems to be facing its biggest existential crisis as the rival camps seem to be in no mood to relent.
The BriefWire