Veteran actor Mallika Sukumaran has announced her resignation from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), expressing solidarity with former president Shwetha Menon, a day after the organisation's executive committee stepped down amid unprecedented turmoil at its General Body meeting. Taking to social media on Monday, Mallika wrote, "With love, I step down from AMMA. With truth. With justice. With Shwetha."
The brief but pointed statement came in the aftermath of the dramatic developments at Sunday's General Body meeting, where Shwetha, general secretary Kukku Parameswaran and the rest of the executive committee resigned following intense disagreements over financial transparency, governance and internal functioning. Shwetha subsequently announced that she was also giving up her membership in the organisation.
Mallika later shared a lengthy note criticising what she described as AMMA's misplaced priorities at a crucial moment for the Malayalam film industry. Referring to the Kerala government's decision to grant cinema industry status in the 2026-27 Budget, Mallika argued that the Malayalam film industry had been presented with a historic opportunity for long-term growth, but that the industry's largest artists' body had failed to engage with the policy's possibilities. "AMMA had a golden chance. It chose gossip over growth," she wrote.
According to Mallika, the new policy framework, which includes concessional land allocation, industrial power tariffs, financial assistance, enhanced subsidies and additional incentives for women-led films, has the potential to transform Kerala into a major film production hub capable of generating thousands of jobs and attracting significant investment. However, she said Sunday's General Body meeting was dominated by discussions surrounding misconduct allegations, personal disputes and reputational battles rather than conversations about the future of the industry. "The problem is not the fight. The problem is priorities," she wrote.
According to the veteran actor, Kerala cannot position itself as a welcoming destination for women filmmakers and large-scale investments while continuing to grapple with recurring controversies within its own artists' association. She also expressed disappointment over what she described as the absence of a collective vision from the industry's leading stars and organisations in response to the government's policy announcement. Mallika noted that influential figures in Malayalam cinema possess the ability to shape policy discussions and accelerate development projects if they choose to actively engage with the opportunities now available.
Concluding her remarks, Mallika lamented what she saw as a missed opportunity for the Malayalam film industry at a pivotal moment. "Kerala gave cinema the keys to the factory. AMMA is still arguing in the parking lot," she said.
