The ongoing controversy inside the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) has become more serious after actress and former Joint Secretary Ansiba Hassan publicly accused actor Tiny Tom of spreading false rumours about her, targeting her personally, and creating an unhealthy atmosphere inside the organisation.
In a recent chat with Reporter TV, she claimed that her problems began soon after she became the Joint Secretary of AMMA, though she was the only bearer who was elected unopposed. She alleged that normal differences of opinion during committee meetings gradually turned into personal attacks against her.
“In any committee, everyone will not always have the same opinion, but because of those differences, personal grudges were shown towards me,” Hassan claimed.
One of the biggest allegations raised by her is that Tiny Tom allegedly spread rumours about her personal life, claiming she was having an “illicit relationship” with other committee members.
Hassan also pointed out that even though she had ignored the rumours initially, things took a turn for the worse when religious allegations started spreading.
She claimed that Tom had allegedly told several people that she was actively trying to convert people, including his driver and the son of the production controller.
She noted it was actress Neena Kurup who informed her about these incidents. She claimed Kurup herself had faced verbal abuse from Tiny Tom during preparations for the AMMA family gathering.
“Even on the eve of the AMMA family gathering, there was a fight where Tiny Tom allegedly tried to physically attack Neena Kurup. Many of us heard the audio clips that later came out,” she said.
“I heard that people had to physically restrain him to stop him from hitting Neena chechi. I wasn’t personally present there during that incident, but many members witnessed it. The incident happened at around 11 PM or midnight on the eve of the family gathering,” Hassan added.
Another major issue the actress raised was regarding the sponsorship of the AMMA family event by a religious institution. She clarified that she was against the sponsorship not because of that institution, but because she believed AMMA should remain neutral and should not be associated with any religious group.
However, she alleged that after expressing this opinion, she was labelled 'communal' and even called a “jihadi”.
Hassan also revealed that another female Executive Committee member later filed a police complaint against her at the Thrippunithura Police Station. The complaint alleged that a message that the actress had sent caused domestic violence inside the complainant’s home.
Ansiba refuted the complaint as baseless, and stated that she was harassed at the police station for nearly three hours.
“They forced me to sign a statement saying I regretted sending the message,” she alleged.
The actress also informed the AMMA Executive Committee's WhatsApp group about the issue, seeking support. However, she claimed the then-President had said that the matter had “nothing to do with AMMA”, while Tiny Tom allegedly dismissed it as a “stupid case".
Hassan noted that the emotional stress, rumours, and lack of support eventually forced her to resign from AMMA after the family gathering in February.
Although her resignation letter officially mentioned “work pressure”, she now claims the real reason was the unhealthy atmosphere inside the organisation.
“I became scared ... I feared that speaking publicly would damage the organisation’s reputation and also affect my career," she admitted, adding that she finally decided to speak publicly because rumours about her continued to spread across the film industry.
The controversy has now gone beyond an internal conflict and has raised larger concerns about power struggles inside AMMA, the treatment of its female members, religious targeting, the misuse of authority, and the lack of proper systems to handle complaints within the organisation.