Founding Women in Cinema Collective members Revathi and Padmapriya have quit AMMA’s primary membership, saying their move is neither hasty nor about a single incident. They cite a decade-long struggle for safer, dignified, accountable workplaces and equal treatment, claiming they faced institutional isolation and that post-Hema Committee leadership changes failed to dismantle entrenched power and patriarchy.
Actors Revathy Asha Kelunni and Padmapriya Janakiraman have announced their resignation from the organisation's primary membership on July 6. The two issued a joint statement on social media, citing that their decision is “not in haste and not about a single incident.”
In their statement, the actors, who are founding members of the Women in Cinema Collective, said that they had been raising fair demands for safer workplaces, dignity, accountability and equal treatment for nearly a decade. They described the cost of raising these concerns as institutional isolation that gradually distanced them from colleagues, friends and professional spaces they had once considered home.
The two actors also addressed the period following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report in 2024, which had already triggered a significant upheaval within AMMA, culminating in the resignation of then-president Mohanlal. Revathy and Padmapriya alleged that the leadership transitions that followed did not result in genuine changes, and that the same patterns of power and patriarchy persisted within the organisation.
Their resignation comes amid ongoing turbulence within AMMA. On June 21, the entire administrative committee of the organisation, led by Shwetha Menon, who had been elected its first female president in August 2025, resigned en masse.
Menon, who had succeeded Mohanlal as president, stated at the time that there were attempts to place the organisation back in the hands of individuals who had been accused of misconduct. The resignations followed a meeting held in Kochi amid allegations of internal power struggles and a sponsorship-related dispute.
Prior to the mass resignation, actor Ansiba Hassan had resigned as joint secretary in May 2026. According to a report in The Hindu, Hassan resigned after she was subjected to “character assassination attempts” by fellow members, including remarks with a communal nature that targeted her. She had also been vocal about statements made by actor Tiny Tom.
AMMA has been facing severe backlash since the Hema Committee report's public release in 2024, which prompted the resignation of Mohanlal as president. The committee's findings documented accounts of sexual exploitation, the existence of a power group that controlled opportunities in the industry, and the lack of formal mechanisms to address complaints. The report's release led to police complaints and public statements from multiple actors, and triggered a series of exits from and disputes within AMMA that have continued through 2025 and into 2026.
No statement has been issued by AMMA in response to the July 6 resignations.