Thiruvananthapuram: Caught in the Me Too storm, CPM MLA and Malayalam actor Mukesh on Wednesday said casting director Tess Joseph's charge could have been a case of misunderstanding.

“It is said that 19 years before, during the shoot of Kodeeshwaran, I had disturbed a female over phone. It could never have been me. I have not done it, I will never do it. It could only have been a misunderstanding,” he told reporters here on Wednesday. “You have to be very clear, and this part shouldn't be changed later, the supposed calls were made over phone. How do you know it was me,” the actor asked.

Mukesh is the first living member of the Malayalam film industry to be accused in the #MeToo movement. Earlier, KPAC Lalitha had accused the late Adoor Bhasi of trying to destroy her career in retaliation for her refusal to submit to his wishes.

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Tess had alleged that Mukesh had called her multiple times during the shoot of 'Kodeeshwaran' programme, and said he had conspired with the staff of a prominent hotel in Chennai (where the incident is supposed to have taken place) to shift her room to beside his. Though he confirmed staying in the hotel mentioned by Tess. “It was the first time I was staying in a hotel of a class above five star,” he said.

But he said he did not remember Tess. “I don't remember the person, not even after I had seen her photograph,” he said. And then, in a subtle hint that Tess was too small a player to be accommodated in a five-star suite and therefore could be lying, Mukesh said: “That too someone in the crew, 19 years before... I have no recollection. I am also not sure whether the crew would be lodged in a five-star hotel.”

Tess, who was then part of the control room of the Kodeeshwaran programme, said that she took refuge in her colleague's room when Mukesh's phone calls became insistent. When she found during the next schedule that her room was shifted to near Mukesh's, Tess said she complained to her boss Derek O'Brien, a popular quiz show host who is now a Rajya Sabha MP for Trinamool Congress. She said Derek calmed her, and put her in a flight back home.

Mukesh described Derek O'Brien as a dear friend and guru. “He directed my first television show, and he had encouraged me a lot. This incident is said to have happened 19 years before, but 10 years ago Derek called me when he came to Kochi. He said he was hosting a programme for Discovery Channel and asked whether I could come over. I said sure. When I met him, he put his hands on my shoulder and said that I was the only friend he had in Kerala,” Mukesh said, and added: “Why would Derek call me if he was under the impression that I had done something wrong.” He said Derek's friendliness was another reason why he felt it was a misunderstanding.

Mukesh Kumar?

Mukesh also used the name, Mukesh Kumar, that Tess had given her tormentor to suggest that there had been a mix up. Mukesh is known simply as Mukesh, and his official name is Madhavan Mukesh.“A person named Mukesh Kumar... I don't know. I will never do it,” he said. However, Tess' tweet also describes the accused as “Mallu host”. Mukesh then was the host of Kodeeshwaran.

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