Mohanlal supports Antony Perumbavoor amid film industry strike controversy

Prithviraj Sukumaran also showed his support for Empuraan producer Antony Perumbavoor by resharing his post.

Malayalam film producer Antony Perumbavoor has called out fellow producer G Suresh Kumar for announcing a strike without the consensus of the film producers' association. In a show of support, Mohanlal reshared Antony Perumbavoor’s statement on his Facebook handle.

Prithviraj Sukumaran also showed his support for Empuraan producer Antony Perumbavoor by resharing his post. Adding a personal touch, he captioned it, “Ellam ok alle Anna?” (Everything’s all right, brother?).

Addressing the controversy at a recent press conference, Suresh Kumar suggested that Antony Perumbavoor’s statement was not entirely his own and implied that external influences might be at play. In his post, Antony Perumbavoor clarified his stance, stating that he felt compelled to respond to Suresh Kumar’s public remarks about the Malayalam film industry made last month.

Antony Perumbavoor’s post read, “I would like to say something...This note is written because I want to express my thoughts on the open statement made by senior producer and actor Suresh Kumar regarding the Malayalam film industry last month. As an individual, in a democratic India, he has the freedom to express his opinion. However, when representing an organization, one should present matters that are accepted and agreed upon by the majority within that organization. Only then can the majority within the organization stand by and support that opinion. Just because he was willing to publicly express matters that lacked consensus within the organization, I am also taking the same freedom to openly share my thoughts with the public.”

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Antony Perumbavoor expressed his perspective on the calculation of box office milestones in the Indian film industry, stating that the figures for 50-crore, 100-crore, 200-crore, and 500-crore clubs are determined based on total gross collections, which include revenue from theaters and other sources, rather than the net profit received by producers. He pointed out that this method is standard practice in Bollywood, Tamil, and Telugu industries as well.

Questioning the criticism directed at producers, he found it contradictory that members of the same organization promoting these milestones were now raising concerns. He further emphasized that celebrating Malayalam cinema’s success in reaching such figures and competing with larger industries should not be viewed negatively.