Malayalam actor-director Lal on Friday said casting couch is a reality in the film industry. During long shooting schedules, cast and crew will be residing in hospitality establishments and predators may exploit such situations, Lal said. The senior Mollywood artist said that the "casting couch" is happening across cinema industries and is not limited to the Malayalam movie sector.
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Following allegations of sexual assault being raised against senior Malayalam cine artists in the backdrop of the Hema Committee report, Lal said the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (A.M.M.A) is not a gang of robbers.
"The guilty should be probed and punished. None should be spared. However, no one should get convicted based on bogus claims or enmity...
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"AMMA's decisions are made amicably. AMMA is not an organisation of robbers who make decisions to trap a particular person. Actors are not bad persons," Lal told media.
Responding to the allegations against his colleague Siddique, Lal said he was shocked. "I was shocked to learn about (the accusation levelled against) Siddique. It was something that we expect from anyone. We can't understand anybody completely these days. We just believe everybody is good souls," 'Karnan' actor Lal said.
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Siddique, 61, is being probed for sexually assaulting an actor in 2016. Thiruvananthapuram Museum Police is investigating Siddique under IPC 376 and 506 for the rape of the woman, who was 21 at the time of the incident. He resigned as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors A.M.M.A after the allegations surfaced.
Siddique and Mukesh, two senior actors being probed for sexual misconduct, are close friends of Lal, who co-directed the superhit comedy-suspense thriller 'In Harihar Nagar' before making two sequels with the same cast over a decade later. Mukesh and Siddique essayed lead roles in the movie alongside Ashokan and Jagadeesh.
