AMMA election: Stars face off as high-stakes battle looms in Malayalam actor’s body

A keen battle is on the cards in the election to the executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) to be held in Kochi, Kerala, on Friday (August 15, 2025).

The outcome of the election will decide whether the association, registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act in 1994, will have its first woman president and general secretary.

Also read: Two women actors in fray for key AMMA posts

Shwetha Menon is taking on senior actor Devan in the race for the top post, while Kukku Parameswaran faces Raveendran for the post of general secretary.

The battle for the key posts in the 17-member executive committee is being watched closely after a series of incidents that had all the elements of a potboiler. Both Shwetha Menon and Kukku Parameswaran had hit the headlines after they had filed their nominations.

The Ernakulam Central Police had registered a first information report (FIR) against Shwetha Menon under Section 67 A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 on charges of making financial gains through her roles in movies having alleged vulgar and obscene content. The Kerala High Court later stayed the criminal proceedings initiated against her.

A section of the actors had alleged that Kukku Parameswaran was in possession of a ‘memory card’ that contained the revelations made by a few woman actors in 2018 after the formation of the K. Hema Committee by the Kerala government to study the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. She had rejected the allegations and lodged a police complaint alleging defamation.

Besides the active faces in the industry, the voters’ list in the 507-member association include senior actor Kamal Haasan, who received the honorary membership of AMMA in 2024, and actors Tabu, Abbas, Thalaivasal Vijay, Napolean, Vasundhara Das to name a few.

Actor-turned-MLAs, including Mani C. Kappan, K.B. Ganesh Kumar, and M. Mukesh, are members of the association. Veteran actors Madhu and Sheela also figure in the list.

The election was necessitated after the previous committee led by Mohanlal resigned in August 2024 following allegations of sexual harassment against some of its members after the release of the Hema Committee report.