Malayalam actor Nimisha Sajayan, who shot to national fame with her role as a woman who defies male chauvinism and misogyny in The Great Indian Kitchen, has been subjected to repeated cyber attacks for her 2019 comment that Kerala would not yield to the BJP.
The trolling that started soon after the BJP opened an account in the state with actor and former Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi registering a win in Thrissur, continues to target Sajayan, a politically vocal filmstar.
She had taken a swipe at Gopi, who had finished third in Thrissur in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Gopi had made himself a subject of trolling with his statement: “I want Thrissur, you should give me Thrissur. I am taking Thrissur.”
Seen as a retort to Gopi's remarks, Sajayan had told the protest gathering: “We didn't even give them Thrissur. Will we give them the whole of India?”
The Sangh Parivar acolytes have now dug up Sajayan’s 2019 comments during the anti-CAA agitation and indulged in heavy trolling on her Facebook page. Hundreds of photographs of Gopi and pictures of Sajayan in tears apart from the misogynistic comments flooded her social media page.
She was even called "Tax Thief", alluding to the allegations that she had evaded over ₹20 lakh, for which the BJP had already criticised her in 2022.
"Thrissur has been taken. Will you continue to live in Thrissur? Or even India?” wrote a person named Vasudev Sudhakar on social media.
Another person named Geethu P.J. asked Sajayan to congratulate Gopi to put an end to the trolling. "I think it would be better for you to congratulate SG (Suresh Gopi) for the win, on your page. Then this torture you are going through would be over. You would also win back the respect you lost,” she wrote.
One of the finest actors from the Malayalam film industry, Sajayan made a mark with her roles in The Great Indian Kitchen and Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (Loot and Eyewitness) in which she plays a victim of chain snatching and succeeds in nailing the thief played by Fahadh Faasil by her dogged determination.
Sajayan, who was yet to react to the cyber attacks, recently played a forthright forest officer in the series Poacher.
State primary education minister V. Sivankutty extended his solidarity to Sajayan. “This is the standard of the Sangh Parivar. How much of their trolling has Kerala faced? In solidarity with Nimisha Sajayan,” he posted on Facebook on Sunday.
Gopi’s son and budding actor Gokul Suresh also empathised with Sajayan explaining that she might have taken the swipe at his father in the heat of the moment during the 2019 agitations.
“It has been years since she made that comment. She was perhaps not aware that she was taking a swipe at her senior actor,” said Gokul, insisting that neither he nor his father was happy at Sajayan being subjected to the cyber attacks.
“My father never encourages it. His stand is why are people targeting her?” Gokul said.
Actor-filmmaker Major Ravi, too, came out in defence of Sajayan saying that the ongoing attack was uncalled for. “She might have said so on that stage (anti-CAA protests) for some applause. But I can’t agree with this attack over what she had said then,” he said in a video message on Monday.
