While 2018 is being lauded as the year the #MeToo movement came to India and shook the film world, Malayalam cinema seems to be reverting to type.
Actor Dileep, one of the key accused in the abduction and molestation of a Malayalam actress in 2017, has released the teaser for his upcoming film, Kodathisamaksham Balan Vakeel.
The film features Dileep as a stammering lawyer who struggles to string together two sentences tasked with fighting a deadly case.
The teaser offers a glimpse of the comedy and casual humour that might define the film produced by Viacom18. The film has no release date as of now. The teaser was shared on the official handle on 27 December.
The irony of Dileep’s first appearance on the big screen in the role of a defender of the law might not be lost on members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) who have been fighting a bitter battle against the inclusion of the actor in industry associations.
The collective was involved in a public fight with the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) on the reinstatement of Dileep in the association after his bail. The actor eventually had to resign in the face of public opposition.
However, this has not stopped the actor-producer from continuing with his film schedules. He has almost wrapped shooting for Professor Dinkan 3D and announced a superhero film, Parakkum Pappan.
The actor-producer was arrested on the charges of masterminding the abduction of and sexual assault on a popular Malayalam actress in 2017. Dileep’s appeal for bail was rejected four times, before being granted on the fifth appeal in October 2017.