‘Won’t adopt double standards’: Dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi on FEFKA’s plan to readmit Dileep

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 9 (PTI) Malayalam dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi on Tuesday said she would resign from the FEFKA in protest against what she called the organisation’s "rushed move" to take back actor Dileep following his acquittal in the 2017 actor assault case.

Bhagyalakshmi, who has previously held several positions in the Film Employees Federation of Kerala, told reporters that she could not adopt "double standards" on the case and would stand firmly with the survivor.

She said the trial court’s verdict was not final until upheld by higher courts, and that FEFKA and other film bodies should have waited for the legal process to conclude.

On Monday, FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan said Dileep would be reinstated once he submitted a request. "We had expelled him within two hours of him being named an accused, and we will reverse the action now that he has been acquitted," he said.

Expressing happiness over the verdict, Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) president B Rakesh also said the body would readmit Dileep if it received a formal request.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) too backed the court’s decision, saying in a Facebook post that "the law will take its own course." Meanwhile, screenwriter and actor-director Renji Panicker welcomed the judgment, saying he believed "the real guilty persons" had been punished.

He said the court had found no evidence of conspiracy involving Dileep. "Unless the higher courts reverse the order, I can only go by the trial court’s decision," he added.

Responding to criticism from the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), which said the survivor had not received full justice, Panicker said, "Those who expected a different verdict will naturally be upset. I stand by the court’s verdict and believe the guilty have been given the right punishment." A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam cinema star Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, in which six persons, including the main accused, charged with committing the crime, were pronounced guilty.

In a case that made national headlines while sending shockwaves over the top actor's alleged involvement in the matter, three others, including Dileep's close friend Sarath, were also acquitted.

Dileep, whose real name is P Gopalakrishnan, claimed there was a "real conspiracy" by some police officials and a section of the media to implicate him in the case earlier with an eye on destroying his career. PTI MVG SSK