The spat between director Anil Radhakrishna Menon and actor Bineesh Bastin has been settled amicably, said B. Unnikrishnan, general secretary of FEFKA (Film Employee's Federation of Kerala) at a news conference where both the actor and director were present. Menon even hugged Bastin at the event.
According to B. Unnikrishnan, no casteist slur was involved in the dispute. “FEFKA representatives held elaborate discussions lasting 15 minutes with both parties and concluded that a cast angle was unnecessarily dragged into the issue. All the problems between the director and actor have been solved,” he said. The controversy erupted a few days ago during a function at Government Medical College, Palakkad where Menon and Bastin were invited as guests. However, after it was alleged that Bastin was humiliated at the programme, FEFKA intervened and summoned the director and actor for discussions.
“It was earlier itself clear that Anil Radhakrishna Menon had not humiliated Bineesh Bastin referring to his caste,” said FEFKA office-bearers. However, as there was no clarity on Menon's comment, it was not discussed. Moreover, Bastin reportedly did not raise the demand for Anil's apology.
Unnikrishnan said at the news meet that Menon and Bastin would continue to be friends. However, the actor later said that there was no change in his stand not to accept roles in the director's future films. “The Palakkad incident has hurt me deeply,” said Bastin.
Meanwhile, Menon announced that he was willing to allow Bastin to work in his upcoming projects.
On the other hand, Unnikrishnan said the incident was truly sad and unfortunate. “Now we don’t want to conduct an autopsy on it. FEFKA has also warned its executive members who had publicly spoken on the matter when it was under the consideration of the committee,” he added.