Actor Shine Tom Chacko given one last chance to correct his behaviour: FEFKA

Chacko was recently arrested and then released on bail in a drugs case after he allegedly fled from a hotel here when a District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team carried out a raid there.

The Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) on Tuesday said actor Shine Tom Chacko, accused by actress Vincy Aloshious of misbehaving with her under the influence of drugs, has been given one last chance to correct his behaviour failing which it would be difficult to continue working with him.

FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan, in a press meet held here, said that the one last opportunity was given to the actor on his request as he is young and a good actor and such individuals 'should not be seen as criminals'.

"People who get addicted to such behaviours or practices should be given an opportunity to correct themselves as that is the humane thing to do. But this humane approach should not be seen as a weakness," he emphasised. He said FEFKA has a strict stand on such matters and it has told Chacko that it can work with him only if he resolves the issue. "He has assured us that he would resolve it," Unnikrishnan said.

He further said that following Vincy’s complaint, FEFKA also spoke to representatives of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and told them clearly that "it would be difficult to move forward with film production in the prevailing circumstances" if such practices were adopted by the actors’ body. Unnikrishnan claimed that the film production in the Malayalam cinema sector has gone down by 45 per cent in the last six months as reputed corporates or producers are unwilling to invest money in making movies due to the overall environment prevailing in the industry.

"The picture that is coming out before the public is that the Malayalam film industry is in the grips of drug cartels. In such circumstances, it would not be surprising if the industry becomes completely lifeless in the next 2-3 months. That is the manner in which production is going down… The public image about the environment in the industry is not at all encouraging,” he added.

Chacko was recently arrested and then released on bail in a drugs case after he allegedly fled from a hotel here when a District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team carried out a raid there. The actor has been booked under section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections 27 (drug consumption) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, in connection with that incident. Just prior to that, Vincy had made the allegations against Chacko.

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She has filed a complaint with the Film Chamber, accusing Chacko of "inappropriate behaviour" while under the influence of drugs on a movie set and also informed the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) about his misconduct on the sets of the unreleased film Soothravakyam though no police complaint has been filed.

The Kerala government, meanwhile, has said that it views the allegations against the actor seriously and its police and Excise department were effectively intervening in the matter. The Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court had recently acquitted Chacko in a 2015 drug case, citing procedural lapses by the police during the seizure and arrest.