After a meeting that took place in Kochi on Sunday, June 21, the administrative committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A.) has reportedly resigned en mass, after a series of allegations surfaced against its members. The previous president was Mohanlal and Shwetha Menon had taken up the leadership role in August last year. Menon was then voted the first woman president of the organisation, with Kukku Parameswaran elected the general secretary.
Shwetha Menon is now reported to have resigned from the membership of AMMA. “There are attempts to place the organisation in the hands of certain accused individuals. There was a clear agenda to remove us from our positions,” she said, according to press reports.
On May 24, actor Ansiba Hassan, last seen playing a central character in Mohanlal’s hit Drishyam 3, announced that she has quit the A.M.M.A or Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes as its joint secretary. 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 colour that targeted her. She had also been vocal about statements made by actor Tiny Tom. This later led to a series of allegations by different members of the association.
In 2024, the findings of the Hema Committee report sparked widespread backlash against AMMA, ultimately leading to the resignation of then-president Mohanlal. In an interview with THR India, Menon had addressed the expectations riding on her shoulders and said, “I don’t want the entire burden of everything that’s happened so far to fall on me, and I definitely don’t want people expecting miracles. If I can survive the next three years without any major glitches, I’ll consider that half the job done. I’m not here to rewrite history; that’s not my agenda. There will always be people trying to pull you down, and honestly, there’s not much you can do about that.”
Other reports suggest that actor and MLA Ramesh Pisharody could be the ad hoc president of the association. Ganesh Kumar, too, is said to be taking up another leadership role in the crisis-hit association.