Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas took to Facebook to slam people who destroyed the church set of his upcoming film Minnal Murali, at Kalady in Ernakulam.
“Minnal Murali’s first schedule at Wayanad had been in progress when the set for the second schedule began construction at Kalady. It was carried out by art director Manu Jagad and team, under special instructions by stunt choreographer Vlad Rimburg. For this, we had the proper permissions from the concerned authorities. And as we were about to start shooting in this set – which was built on a considerable cost, the whole country went into lockdown, following which our shoot was paused, just like all others (sic),” he wrote on his Facebook page.
The actor added, “It is during this prevailing uncertainty that this contractual set was destroyed by a group of racialists yesterday. The reasons they cite for this unceremonious act are not understood to our senses till now. We’ve heard of movie sets being vandalised by religious fanatics in Northern parts of India. Now, it’s happening to us right here.”
On Sunday, members of right wing Hindu group Antharashtra Hindu Parishad (AHP) claimed that they had demolished the church set with the help of their sister outfit Antarashtra Bajrang Dal, The News Minute reported. AHP’s General Secretary Hari Palode shared on his Facebook account the pictures of right-wing members destroying the film set. In a post in Malayalam, he said that they had warned against construction of the set near the Mahadeva shrine in Kalady. Palode added that they were demolishing it because they are not used to ‘pleading’.
Minnal Murali director Basil Joseph took to social media to express grief over the shocking incident, and spoke of the efforts that had gone into the creation of the set.
Minnal Murali is a superhero film starring Tovino and produced by Sophia Paul under the banner Weekend Blockbusters.