Malayalam filmmaker Roopesh Peethambaran alleged lobbying in the Kerala State Film Awards, claiming a film swept many awards due to the actor’s political ties. Social media speculates he was referring to Charlie, which won eight awards that year.
Kochi: Malayalam filmmaker and actor Roopesh Peethambaran, who began his career portraying the younger Mohanlal in the classic Spadikam, later directing films such as Theevram with Dulquer Salmaan and You Too Brutus starring Tovino Thomas, has opened up about alleged lobbying in the Kerala State Film Awards. Roopesh also played a key role in Tovino Thomas’s Oru Mexican Aparatha. In an interview with Ginger Media, Roopesh claimed he witnessed a film sweeping the state awards due to the lead actor’s close ties with people in the ruling party. He explained that the film’s producer also received an award for another project that same year.
‘Actor Has Close Ties With Ruling Party’
“There’s an incident in Kerala over the last ten years that I witnessed. If I say it, everyone will know which film it is. People in the ruling party are very close to the hero. He did a film that became a huge success and asked his politician friend, ‘Hey, aren’t we getting any awards?’ Unbelievably, that film ended up winning all the state awards—Best Actor, Director, Film, and Actress. One of its producers, who is also an actor, was given a state award for his performance in another film. The entire team swept the awards. This is lobbying. I haven’t sent any of my films for awards, and I won’t in the future,” Roopesh said.
Speculation quickly spread on social media that Roopesh was referring to Charlie, starring Dulquer Salmaan. That year, Charlie indeed won eight awards at the Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Actor, Best Director, Best Film, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography. Joju George, a co-producer of the film, also received a special jury award for his performances in Lukka Chuppi and Oru Second Class Yathra.
