Acclaimed Malayalam filmmaker Ranjith resigned as the Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman on Sunday, bowing to Kerala government pressure two days after Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra accused him of having touched her inappropriately.

Another stalwart of Malayalam cinema, senior actor Siddique, too quit his post as general secretary of the powerful Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) after being accused of raping a budding actor.

Asked for her reaction to Ranjith’s resignation, Sreelekha told this newspaper: “I was not abused. But the man made me feel very uncomfortable. These issues are normalised, even trivialised. But it is very important to protest.”

Sreelekha had on Friday accused Ranjith of playing with her bangles and then her hair before touching the nape of her neck during a meeting to discuss a film — Paleri Manikyam (2009) — that he was making and in which she was expected to act.
She said she then walked out of the project.

Ranjith has denied the allegation. After resigning on Sunday, he said he would pursue legal action to establish the truth.

“I need to prove (my innocence). I need to convince people that it (the allegation) was a lie. I have decided to proceed with legal action,” he told a television channel.

Ranjith had clung on to his post for more than a day after Sreelekha’s allegation, resigning only after some prodding from an embarrassed state government. Ranjith is a Left co-traveller and the Academy is a state-run organisation.

Siddique’s resignation came within hours of an actor accusing him of rape.

On Sunday, casting director Tess Joseph once again accused veteran actor and CPM MLA Mukesh of harassing her by repeatedly summoning her to his hotel room. Tess had made the same allegation in 2018 at the height of the #MeToo movement.

Sreelekha’s allegation, and that by the actor accusing Siddique of rape, came in the wake of the Hema Committee report that dwelt on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry.

Siddique’s accuser says he raped her after inviting her to a hotel on the pretext of discussing a non-existent film. She says she was 21 at the time and had just cleared Class XII.

“His initial approach is to address us (girls) as ‘moley’ (daughter), but we don’t expect him to have such an idea. But later I realised there was no such movie (for which she had auditioned). That was where he sexually abused me. It was a trap,” the actor said.

“Whatever he has been saying now are mere lies. What he has done to me, and other survivors, was rape.”

After Siddique’s resignation, she urged producers and directors to realise who they were patronising.

“I have sent my resignation letter to the AMMA president since there are allegations against me,” Siddique told a Malayalam news channel.

Asked what had really happened, he told a channel: “We can talk about it in detail later. I am informing you about my resignation. I won’t continue in this position. I am in Ooty (Tamil Nadu) for a shooting.”