Malayalam film body threatens to boycott actor Dileep's movies

Kochi, Sep 5 (IANS) A faction of the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA) Friday demanded that a row between actor Dileep and director Thulasidas be sorted out within two weeks and threatened to boycott the star's forthcoming movies.

Byju Kottarakara, the spokesperson for the faction led by former MACTA general secretary, said that the producers' association had settled an issue between actor Sreenivasan and the association within a day. According to him, the row between Dileep and Thulasidas was also similar and therefore should be resolved soon.

'The crisis in the film industry started when Dileep backed out from a film to be directed by Thulasidas after collecting money. We raised this issue and for several months the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) and the producers association did not do anything. But when it came to Sreenivasan's issue that surfaced yesterday, all intervened and settled the issue,' Kottarakara told IANS.

He added that they had given a period of two weeks for the matter to be sorted out.

'If this does not happen, we will not allow a single film of Dileep's to be either shot or screened. We have the support of certain political parties because ours is a trade union. We will wait for two weeks only,' Kottarakara warned.

The Dileep-Thulasidas row had sparked a major crisis in the film industry a few months back. After a lot of mud slinging, the Indian Film Employees Confederation (IFEC), an apex trade union body, decided to form an ad-hoc committee and conduct fresh polls to elect a new set of office bearers of MACTA after Vinayan stepped down.

The MACTA comprises 19 organisations that represent all those associated with filmmaking, from drivers to directors besides script writers and professionals from every field - barring producers, actors and actresses, who owe allegiance to AMMA.

Thulasidas had alleged that Dileep, after taking a payment of Rs.4 million four years back for a film, withdrew from the project following a string of flops by the director.

The MACTA has said the actor should work for the director while the AMMA is reportedly supporting Dileep