'There Is A Mafia Sangham In The Industry': Actor Shammi Thilakan On Hema Committee Report

A day after the release of the Hema committee report, actor Shammi Thilakan has accused minister K B Ganesh Kumar of being one of those who imposed an unofficial ban on his late father, actor Thilakan. Shammi told TNIE that the report talks about a famous actor being banned from the industry by 15 powerful people and that it was none other than his father.

The report reveals that a renowned actor once referred to the influential group in the film industry as a ‘mafia sangham,’ suggesting they had the power to dictate terms and make anything happen. Despite being an exceptionally talented actor, Thilakan claimed he was ostracised from the industry due to a conspiracy by 10 to 15 individuals who aimed to remove him from cinema. Forced to transition into television roles, Thilakan still found himself unable to escape the grip of this powerful lobby. Notably, the president of ATMA at that time was also a film actor.

Shammi said Ganesh had been the president of ATMA since its inception. “What is stated in the report is correct. Ganesh lobbied the 15-member gang that controls the Malayalam film industry to ban Thilakan even from serials. At a meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), a star insulted Thilakan, shouted at him and asked him to leave the meeting. The same star visited my father when he was in a critical condition in the hospital. He told me that Thilakan was like a bappa (father) to him.”

“They ousted Thilakan from AMMA. After my father died in 2018, I raised the defamation of Thilakan at an AMMA board meeting. The then president Mohanlal said the committee could look into the issue and justice should be done to Thilakan Chettan. There was a feeling that AMMA should apologise to Thilakan. I requested them to form a committee to look into the matter Nothing happened. Later, a senior actor told me that an apology to Thilakan would damage her image,” he said.

Shammi also questioned director Vinayan’s alleged silence on the ‘power group’. “He claims that he knows the names of these people. Why is he not revealing them? Vinayan had fought his case to ban Thilakan and won in the Supreme Court,” Shammi said.