Actor Dileep’s arrest uncovers the dark underbelly of Malayalam cinema
When Malayalam superstar Dileep was brought to the Aluva subjail near Kochi after his arrest, the waiting mob chanted, “Welcome to Central Jail,” the title of a 2016 movie he starred in that would come to haunt him a year later. The arrest capped five months of investigations into a sordid case, where a contract goon kidnapped and sexually abused a popular actress. The case shocked Kerala and became another challenge for an already embattled state police and the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
While the arrest comes as a major victory for the victim and her family, it is also a muchneeded boost for the Kerala police, whose image had taken a beating after a series of goof ups in highprofile cases. The arrest came as a big blow to the Malayalam actors’ guild, AMMA, which had stood by Dileep, its major fundraiser. It also sent tremors through the Malayalam film industry—where 119 movies were made in 2016— and exposed the slimy underbelly of the stardriven industry.
This story is from the July 24, 2017 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 24, 2017 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Grand Young Master
Seventeen-yearold D. Gukesh has become the youngest player to win the Candidates chess tournament
SPORTING SPIRIT
BADMINTON PLAYER ASHWINI PONNAPPA, 34, IS OFF TO HER THIRD OLYMPICS, THIS TIME WITH A NEW PARTNER, TANISHA CRASTO
PORTRAITS OF A PEOPLE
Etchings by the colonial Flemish artist F. Baltazard Solvyns are getting a new lease of life in an exhibition at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
Centennial Man
A seminal exhibition of K.G. Subramanyan's works in his birth centenary year at Emami Art, Kolkata takes an imaginative and immersive curatorial approach
Rhythms of Nature
ARTIST AND MUSIC COMPOSER GINGGER SHANKAR'S LATEST SINGLE COMBINES SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC WITH INUIT THROAT SINGING
SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND
Kashmiri musician Faheem Abdullah’s debut album Lost; Found is a collaborative effort
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
With its excellent translations, Songs of Tagore makes Rabindrasangit accessible to the non-Bengali reader
Of Freedom and Friendship
T.C.A. RAGHAVAN'S CIRCLES OF FREEDOM FOLLOWS THREE YOUNG MUSLIMS DRAWN INTO THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE
The Razor's Edge
Salman Rushdie's Knife is an eloquent, first-person account of the horrific attack on him. It's also a love story
THE LAST-MILE PUSH
The India Today Smart Money Financial Summit had top experts discussing how technology could be leveraged to widen the reach of personal finance tools