Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan booked for harassment over female star’s complaint


Jan 28, 2025 01:05 PM IST

Filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan posted a copy of the complaint on social media and responded to the allegations. 

Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has been booked for harassing a prominent female actor online based on a complaint filed by her. A case has been registered against him at the Elamakkara Police Station in Kochi for alleged stalking, criminal intimidation and defamation. (Also Read: Mohanlal calls L2 Empuraan director Prithviraj Sukumaran ‘cruel’ because he ‘extracts what he wants’ from actors)

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has been accused of harassing a female actor online.

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan booked for harassment

Police told PTI on Tuesday that Sanal has been booked on charges of harassing a prominent actor on a social media platform. Elamakkara police registered a case against him under various sections. The complaint against him was lodged on Monday after Sanal, in a recent Facebook post, claimed that the lives of the actor and her daughter were under threat.

Sanal posted a copy of the FIR registered against him on his Facebook and Instagram, claiming that someone else had filed the complaint against him in the actor’s name. According to Matrubhumi, the actor also accused Sanal of releasing audio conversations in her name. A lookout notice will reportedly be issued against the filmmaker as he is in the US. Kochi police have contacted the Indian embassy there.

Previous history with female actor

Sanal was arrested and released on bail in May 2022 based on a complaint by the same actor over allegations of blackmail and maligning her reputation online. Back then, Sanal had visited a temple in his hometown, Parassala, with his relatives when the arrest took place. When police dressed in plain clothes reportedly tried to take him into custody, the director went LIVE on Facebook claiming that he was being ‘kidnapped’ and that he had no faith in the system.

Sanal is known for helming films like S Durga, previously titled Sexy Durga, which received the Hivos Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017. His last directorial was the 2022 film Vazhakku with Tovino Thomas, which also faced controversy due to a feud between the director and actor.

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