Kochi: Close on the heels of publishing of a report on women encountering sexual harassment in Malayalam film industry, a Bengali actress has accused noted director Ranjith inappropriately behaving with her over a decade back.
Sreelekha Mitra said that she trashed the offer to work in “Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha” after the gesture from Ranjith who is chairperson of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Mitra told reporters in Kolkata that it happened when she was invited into the bedroom where Ranjith made physical contact without her consent.
She walked out of the place where there were a few other film personalities present. Miffed over Ranjith’s demeanor, Sreelekha rushed back home at her own expense as she was denied a return ticket back home.
It was Bengali documentary filmmaker Joshy Joseph who suggested her to work in Malayalam film. Sreelekha informed about it then to Joseph who vouched for her on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ranjith agreed that she was in his apartment in connection with the movie, but
denied her allegations by saying that his team found her unsuitable for the role.
The allegations come in the wake of recent publication of the Justice Hema Committee report which has exposed alleged sexual exploitation of women in Malayalam film industry.
The report was submitted in 2019 to the LDF government which sat over it for about five years.
The committee was set up after a popular Malayalam woman actor was abused on February 17, 2017, in which actor Dileep is an accused.
Following the incident a group of women working in the Malayalam film industry formed ‘Women in Cinema Collective’ (WCC) to support the survivor.
It was the WCC which wanted a committee to probe into the atrocities in Malayalam film industry, mainly against women.
