Malayalam film actor Tovino Thomas slams Hindutva group that vandalises his Minnal Murali set

Hari Palode, general secretary of the right-wing outfit Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), recently claimed responsibility for his outfit, along with Bajrang Dal the aid of members, vandalising the set of actor Tovino Thomas' next film, Minnal Murali, all because it resembled a church. "We had warned the people constructing the set that they shouldn't be doing so here. We had sent a complaint letter too. We are not in the habit of pleading or begging. We have to protect our Hindu pride. We thank the members of Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, who under the able leadership of Ernakulam division president Malayatoor Ratheesh, helped us bring down the set. May Mahadev's blessings be with you", wrote Palode on his Facebook page.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan vociferously condemned the attack in a press conference, saying, "Such incidents have no place in Kerala. The film set was built in March spending lakhs of rupees. But because of Covid lockdown, the work got stuck. Now, there are reports of Banjrang Dal having vandalised it last evening. This is clearly aimed at provoking religious sentiments. Kerala is not a land where such communal forces can thrive. The government will take strong action. There is no doubt about it."

Explaining why the set was still standing erect despite being built some time ago, Minnal Murali's leading man Tovino Thomas wrote on social media: "It was carried out by art director Manu Jagad and team, under special instructions by stunt choreographer Vlad Rimburg. For this, we had the rightful permissions from the concerned authorities. And as we were about to start shooting in this set which was built on a considerable cost, the whole country went into lockdown, following which our shoot was paused, just like all others."

"It is during this prevailing uncertainty that this contractual set was destroyed by a group of racialists yesterday. The reasons they cite for this unceremonious act are not understood to our senses till now. We've heard of movie sets being vandalised by religious fanatics in Northern parts of India. Now, it's happening to us right here. It has caused us a lot of distress, and even more of anxiety. We have decided to go ahead with the legal proceedings," Tovina added.

On the other hand, the director of the film, Basil Joseph, told The NewsMinute, "The island has a small temple where Maha Shivaratri celebrations are held every year. On the opposite banks of the river is the famous Adi Sankaracharya mutt. However, we had got official permission from the local temple, the panchayat as well as the irrigation department in order to erect the temporary set."

Lamenting the losses producer Sophie Paul elaborated, "Minnal Murali is an ambitious super-hero project which is under production and we have filmed almost a major portion of the film. The film required almost two years of pre production and planning owing to the scope and scale of the film. The set at Kalady was planned and built for one of our most important scenes. All required permissions to build the set at the location was taken. Today's incident is so unfortunate and a colossal loss."

Meanwhile, district police chief, Ernakulam Rural, K Karthick IPS declared on his Facebook page that Rashtriya Bajrang Dal Ernakulam district president Kari Ratheesh (Ratheesh Kalady), the mastermind behind the attack has been arrested while other accused in the case would be arrested soon.

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