Kannur: More support pours in for actor Parvathy, who was targeted by online abusers for slamming portrayal of misogynistic characters in Malayalam films. State minister for culture A K Balan is the latest to speak up in support of the actor.
"One should not feel humiliated for expressing one's opinion," the minister said on Wednesday. The minister also slammed social media users for creating unwanted controversies.
"Malayalees are good in making up controversies. This is what happened in Parvathy's case too. Parvathy only voiced her opinion. She did not criticize (actor) Mammootty. Still, people on social media made a controversy out of this," he said.
Parvathy's comments at an open forum as part of the recently concluded International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) about the 'misogynistic' dialogs in the Mammootty-starrer Kasaba had created uproar on social media. Even though the Women in Cinema Collective and other people had come forward to support the actress, the attacks in the online world continued unabated.
The actor had filed a complaint with DGP Loknath Behera on Tuesday, saying she has been facing cyber bullying after she criticized certain dialogs in the movie.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested a 23-year-old man, identified as Printo from Wadakkancherry in Thrissur district, on Wednesday.
He was charged under IPC sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
He was also charged under various provisions of the Information Technology Act including section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form), the police had said.
Printo was produced before a magistrate court on Wednesday which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
Meanwhile, the minister also sought support for the proposed film festival complex in Thiruvananthapuram.
Earlier, director Adoor Gopalakrishnan had opposed the idea of building the complex outside the capital city.
Saying he has a lot of respect towards Adoor, the minister clarified that government had to move out to the suburban areas as land was not available in Thiruvananthapuram city.