Online hate campaign against Mammootty draws widespread political, social condemnation
The Hindu
Mammootty faces online hate campaign for role in Puzhu, drawing political censure and social criticism for divisive attacks.
Actor Mammootty seems to be the latest high-profile victim of online hate campaign.
The “communally loaded” online attacks centred around Mr. Mammootty’s official name, Mohammad Kutty, have drawn across-the-aisle political censure and widespread social criticism for their “odious” nature.
What started as a private dispute between a director-screenwriter couple within the Malayalam film industry has unexpectedly snowballed into a “religiously schismatic” social media storm with Mr. Mammootty, at its centre for his critically acclaimed role in the 2022 film Puzhu.
The movie dwells on the caste prejudice of an upper-caste police officer who resents his sister’s love marriage to a person from the lower echelons of the Hindu caste system.
One of the movie makers spawned the surge of online hatred by recently telling an online news channel that Mr. Mammootty should have, ideally, refused the role that sought to portray a particular community as small-minded bigots.
The ruling, front, and Opposition rallied behind the award-winning actor and accused the Sangh Parivar of seeking to inject the poison of communal politics into the Malayalam film industry.
Revenue Minister K. Rajan said Mr. Mammootty was the latest film industry giant targeted by the Sangh Parivar for his religion.
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