Kerala politicians stand by actor Mammootty facing online harassment, call him State's pride

Political leaders in Kerala on Wednesday criticised the online harassment faced by actor Mammootty in connection with one of his films and described him as the “pride of Malayalis”.

The actor’s film Puzhu, released in 2022 and directed by Ratheena PT, stirred a controversy after the director’s husband, Sharshad Baniyandi, recently told an online media channel that the film had “insulted the upper caste community”, The Indian Express reported.

Baniyandi questioned Mammootty’s decision to take up the project and asked if the actor had read the script before doing so. He also claimed that one of the scriptwriters of the film, Harsha, was an “extreme Islamist”.