Thiruvananthapuram: Anger simmered in the film fraternity in Kerala a day after the Nair Service Society general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair publicly snubbed popular Malayalam cine actor Suresh Gopi on Saturday.
At least two film actors have publicly criticised the NSS chief’s action, and Gopi himself has called for changes to the style of the NSS leadership.
Gopi had been to the NSS headquarters unannounced, to call on Sukumaran Nair. The NSS is the most widely-accepted organisation of the Nair community in Kerala.
On Sunday, actor Anoop Chandran reminded artistes not to supplicate before religious and community leaders. “What happened to Suresh Gopi is a lesson for all who go after community leaders”, he said. Chandran said the NSS belonged to all Nairs and was not the private property of Sukumaran Nair.
“It was an actor whom the nation has honoured with the Bharat Gopi award, who was humiliated by Sukumaran Nair. It was not the right approach. Suresh Gopi is a person who does a lot of charitable work. At least that should have been remembered”, Chandran said.
Earlier, another film actor, Major Ravi had also spoken in support of Gopi.
Meanwhile, Gopi himself came out against the NSS leadership, stating that the “community leaders must be a corrective force to the top leadership of the NSS”. He said he had not gone to the NSS headquarters in Perunna in Kottayam district with any political agenda, and that he was pained by the treatment he received.
“There should be a situation where anyone can fearlessly walk into the NSS headquarters at Perunna or to the tomb of NSS founder Mannathu Padmanabhan. It is not the right style to think that one person can control everything”, Gopi said.
The actor said he was not the first person to have such a bitter experience at the NSS headquarters, pointing out that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V.M. Sudheeran and minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, too, had met with similar experiences.
Sukumaran Nair, however, said the actor had been to the NSS headquarters on a political agenda, and that anyone could see that when the actor went there on the very day of the polling in the Aruvikkara by-election, just after campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate there.
