Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passes away at 64
Mumbai, Sep 23 : Filmmaker and screenwriter Kalpana Lajmi, noted for films like "Rudaali" and "Daman", died here on Sunday following a multiple organ failure, said her spokesperson. She was 64.
"Extremely sorry to inform you that Kalpana Lajmi passed away this morning at 4.30 a.m.," the filmmaker's spokesperson Parul Chawla told IANS.
Lajmi breathed her last here at a hospital, where she was admitted in the intensive care unit since Tuesday due to kidney-related issues, the spokesperson added.
The cremation will take place at 12.30 p.m. at the Oshiwara crematorium.
Lajmi had been undergoing dialysis for a couple of years, and true to her indomitable spirit, had said in an interview last year: "My kidneys have failed, but I haven't."
She debuted as a feature film director with "Ek Pal". Her last directorial was "Chingaari", based on the novel "The Prostitute and the Postman" by the late Bhupen Hazarika, her long-time companion.
Her memoir "Bhupen Hazarika: As I Knew Him" was launched earlier this month. The filmmaker is survived by her brother and mother.
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No govt protection, claims actress who accused CPI(M)'s Mukesh of sexual abuse
Kochi (PTI): A 51-year-old Malayalam actress who had levelled sexual abuse allegations against several male actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh, on Friday said she was not keen on pursuing her complaints due to "lack of support and protection from the Kerala government".
The complainant also alleged "carelessness" on the part of the state government and said she was "mentally exhausted" and therefore, not keen on taking the complaints forward.
"I would like to tell everyone that due to the government's carelessness and lack of protection for a woman who has come forward like this, I have suffered more than I can handle. I am mentally exhausted. They are not helping or protecting a woman.
"Therefore, I do not want to pursue the cases. It is not because I have compromised with anyone," she told reporters.
She claimed that she was made an accused in a POCSO case following her complaints against the actors, also including Maniyanpilla Raju and Idavela Babu, and the government did nothing to protect her.
"I am innocent. I want justice. I want the POCSO case against me to be probed thoroughly and quickly. If I commit suicide, the government will be responsible for it," she said.
The Muvattupuzha police had registered the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, against the woman actor based on a complaint lodged by her relative.
According to the police, the incident occurred in 2014. The relative has alleged that she was a minor at the time of the incident and that the actor was running a sex racket.
The actor had vehemently denied the allegations and claimed that the woman relative owed her some money, and these allegations were to shift attention from her complaint against the high-profile actors.
The actress' allegations against the actors came in the wake of the disclosure of the Justice Hema Committee report which revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.
The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case.
The complete report was placed before the Kerala High Court which directed that it be handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) that was constituted to probe complaints of sexual abuse in the film industry.
Subsequently, 26 FIRs were registered by the SIT in connection with the revelations in the report.
