As heartfelt tributes continue to pour in following the death of veteran Communist leader and former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, one moment from his political life has resurfaced in public memory, a moment that underscored both his unwavering convictions and the quiet power of his influence. The year was 2004. At the time, VS was serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala. Mammootty, who is also serving as the Chairman of the CPM-owned Kairali TV, had just accepted a lucrative endorsement offer from Coca-Cola. The multinational brand announced the veteran actor as its new ambassador, and the news made immediate headlines across the state.
That very day, VS was at the Kottayam Guest House, fielding questions from the press. A journalist asked him to comment on Mammootty’s dual role as Kairali TV chairman and Coca-Cola’s brand face. VS’s response was characteristically blunt: “He can’t do both. Either Mammootty continues as chairman of Kairali, or he becomes the ambassador for Coca-Cola.”
Given VS’s vocal support for the anti-Coca-Cola movement in Plachimada, a grassroots protest against groundwater depletion and pollution allegedly caused by the company’s bottling plant, his stand came as no surprise. But what followed did. The very next day, Mammootty publicly withdrew from the endorsement, walking away from what was reportedly a Rs 2 crore deal. It was a staggering sum for the Malayalam film industry at the time, and one of the highest ever offered to a South Indian actor. Yet, with a single sentence from VS, the actor made his choice, and it was seen as a mark of deep personal respect.
VS Achuthanandan’s steadfast commitment to people’s movements, including the Plachimada struggle, earned him the reputation of being uncompromising in matters of public interest. That one exchange in 2004, now remembered widely, speaks volumes about the stature he held in Kerala’s public life and the moral weight his words carried.
