Manju Warrier back in the UAE
Top Malayalam actress, whose exhusband Dileep is embroiled in a criminal conspiracy case, will be in the UAE today
A s Kerala reels under the news of actor Dileep’s arrest for his role in an actress’ abduction, his former wife and award-winning actress Manju Warrier will be in Ajman today to snip the ribbon for a new jewellery store.
Warrier, who is one of the faces of Kalyan Jewellers, is on call along with South Indian actor Prabhu Ganesan to launch the new showroom at Nesto Hypermarket in Mushrif, Ajman. It will be her second store inauguration of the day in the UAE. Her first stop will be in Ras Al Khaimah as she launches a jewellery showroom in that emirate.
The actress, who made a stupendous comeback with How Old
Are You?, after she divorced her actor-husband in 2015, is expected to make an appearance at the Ajman store around 6.45pm after her pit-stop at RAK. If her past appearances in the country are any indication, hundreds of her fans in the UAE will throng the venue in the hope of catching a glimpse of their beloved idol.
This time around, the crowds may be larger as Warrier is inadvertently attached to one of Malayalam movie industry’s biggest and sordid scandals.
Her former husband’s murky involvement in orchestrating a sexual assault of his colleague that led him to be arrested on July 10 and remanded to 14-day judicial custody, has put her fractured personal life in the spotlight again. Dileep’s personal enmity with the survivor because she alerted Warrier to his alleged affair with his then-colleague, now-wife Kavya Madhavan, is believed to be one of the primary reasons behind him plotting an attack.
According to a report in a Malayalam news daily, the award-winning actress may soon approach court to seek custody of their sole daughter, Meenakshi, 17. After their high-profile divorce, their teenage daughter chose to live with her father.
Warrier has become one of the most prominent voices in fighting sexism and seeking gender-equality in the famously patriarchal Malayalam film industry.
STANDING BY A FRIEND
Shortly after the attack of the actress (whose name has been withheld), who was sexually assaulted in a moving vehicle on February 17 by a gang of masked men near Kochi, Warrier attended a protest meet and condemned the incident. She made it clear that there’s a conspiracy angle to the abduction and assault and she had urged the authorities to fight for justice for the survivor, who’s also her close friend.
Dileep’s lawyers had earlier sought bail for the notorious actor who has been expelled from industry bodies such as the Association Of Malayalam Movie Artists and Film Employees Federation Of Kerala, following his arrest.
As per reports that are emerging, his lawyers claim that the evidence collected by the police is questionable and that a person cannot be arrested on mere suspicion.
Dileep allegedly paid Rs15 million (Dh852,371) to a local goon, Pulsar Suni, to abduct an actress and take visuals of her sexual assault in order to blackmail her.
The remand report submitted by the police had nineteen points, and Dileep’s lawyer has opposed almost all of them through the bail application, and claimed that those points had nothing to do with his client directly. On Wednesday afternoon, following the hearing in Angamaly, a court quashed Dileep’s bail plea and remanded him to a two-day police custody.
Dileep’s arrest is one of Kerala’s most high-profile cases and has triggered a debate on the degree of male-domination and sexism that is prevalent in Malayalam film industry. It has also shone light on the underhanded armtwisting tactics employed by big actors to further their interests.
While it’s yet to be seen if justice will prevail, Dileep is surely going through one of the lowest points in his life. The cries of adoration have transformed into booing, and angry mobs vandalised Dileep’s business establishments such as his chain of restaurants in Kerala, to express their anger and disappointment.