An activist from Dalit community took offence to the commentaries made by veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on government grants earmarked for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) filmmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dalit activist named Dinu Veyil spoke to the media on Monday July 04, 2025 saying, he lodged complaints with the police and Kerala SC\/ST Commission against Adoor Gopalakrishnan for his out of the way remarks at the Kerala Film Policy Conclave in Thiruvananthapuram, where the veteran filmmaker questioned the Kerala government’s inclusive film policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the film policy conclave, veteran Adoor said that the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC)’s largesse amounting to Rs. 1.5 crore grant sanctioned for filmmakers belonging to marginalised communities is “excessive” and can pave the way for “corruption”, IANS, an Indian news agency, quoted him saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While suggesting the government, veteran filmmaker said filmmakers from marginalised communities should be given “intensive training” for at least three months, and the grant should be reduced to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh in the best interests of other filmmakers, the agency further quoted the filmmaker saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With those commentaries at film conclave, the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee now stands exposed to charges levelled by Dinu Veyil who in his complaint with the police Thiruvananthapuram and the SC\/ST commission categorically mentioned that those generalised remarks might attract penal provisions under section 3(1)(U) and amount to violation of the SC\/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which prohibits the promotion of ill-will or hostility against members of these communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a Facebook post, Dinu Veyil said, “By saying beneficiaries of government welfare schemes from the SC\/ST sections take the money and run, the speaker implies that these communities engage in misuse of public funds. Such remarks associate SC\/ST persons with dishonesty and corruption, potentially encouraging prejudice and social antipathy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veyil’s FB post further reads: “This characterisation amounts to deliberate humiliation in public view, which is punishable under Section 3(1)(r) of the same Act\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the same event, Kerala Minister for Fisheries, Culture and Youth Affairs Saji Cherian however defended the government’s grant for people from “under-represented communities”, who faced exclusion for nearly a century, saying, the funding policy help bring the marginalised up into the mainstream cinema and correct historical imbalances in the film industry and won’t be revoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With inputs from IANS<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n