Director Vinayan slams Malayalam superstars

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Film director Vinayan, who has a running feud with one of the Malayalam film industry’s leading organisations, Sunday slammed the reigning superstars and said they would lose their status within a year.

“The long reign of the Malayalam superstars is coming to an end. The slide has begun. In a year from now, the present superstars would be known as ex-superstars. Henceforth, no Malayalam actor will have such a long run as superstars,” said Vinayan at the release of his film “Yakshiyum Njanum”.

The present superstars in the industry are Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi who have been the main actors for the past 25 years.

Vinayan headed the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA), a grouping comprising 19 different organizations of technicians and film workers, ranging from drivers to directors.

The group split after the industry’s main directors, with tacit support of the superstars, floated a new organisation called the the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), rendering MACTA a toothless tiger.

“I have been in this industry for two decades and by now I have directed 32 films including four in Tamil. But I have come out successful in finishing and releasing my latest film despite all odds. The big names in the industry did their best to thwart it, but I have come out successful,” Vinayan told reporters.

“This opposition helped me to bank on debutants and I had a new editor, cameraman, art director and 10 new actors. This opposition has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the fresh faces who are being sidelined by a group running the affairs of the industry,” said Vinayan.

“The superstars rule the roost because they have their own production houses and also have a say in the distribution chain. But of late, with their films doing not that well, the slide has begun and soon they will be in the category of ex-superstars,” added Vinayan.