Media misleading public perception of film industry: Suresh Gopi
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Tuesday lashed out at the media, accusing it of misleading the public's perception about the film industry regarding the recent allegations of sexual harassment against actors and directors.
The actor-politician termed the allegations as "food" for the media and said they were welcome to make money out of it.
The Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, however, said they should not try to destroy such a huge industry like cinema.
He was responding to reporters' queries over the recent allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against various directors and actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh.
"This is all food for you, is what I understand. You can use it to make money. (There is) no problem with that. But these issues are before the court, and it has the intelligence and logic to arrive at a decision regarding them.
"You (media) are not only making people fight each other for your own gains, you are also misleading public perception. The complaints are in the form of allegations at the moment. What are you telling people? Are you the court? You are not. The court will decide. Let the court decide," Gopi said.
His response came a day after the Yuva Morcha organised a march towards the residence of Mukesh in Kollam.
The publication of the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry has opened a can of worms with several female actors stepping forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
Amid these allegations, the government announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations made in the wake of the Hema Committee report being published.
Following that more complaints surfaced against various actors and directors.
The report by the Justice Hema Committee, constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case has revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.
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Jos Buttler hopes short break from cricket will help him in IPL 2026
London (PTI): England batting mainstay Jos Buttler has said that spending time away from cricket after a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign should put him in good stead as he looks for a fresh start with the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League beginning later this month.
Former England captain Buttler continued to receive the team's backing even as his runs dried up during the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, a lean patch for one of the country's most prominent white-ball batters.
Buttler managed just 87 runs across eight matches at an average of 10.87, with a forgettable strike rate of 116, while opening the batting for England at the World Cup. England bowed out of the tournament after losing to India in a high-scoring semifinal in Mumbai.
The 35-year-old hopes that the break he took from the game since that semifinal on March 5 should help him heading into the IPL starting on March 28.
"I couldn't have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect. It's exactly what I needed," Buttler said on 'For the Love of Cricket' podcast.
"Obviously, the tournament didn't go personally how I'd have liked it to go. I just felt like I needed some space (away) from cricket and not to think about the game, and I could not have been further away from cricket where I was in that week," he said.
IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans will get their campaign underway on March 31 in an away game against Punjab Kings.
Buttler said the break was energising, which also gave him time to reflect.
"It was really refreshing -- I really enjoyed it -- a complete sort of release," he said.
"Slowly but surely, I'd say at the start of this week, (I am) just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what's important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn't go quite as I would've liked."
Buttler said his lack of runs in the T20 World Cup was not due to lack of effort, since in the lead-up to the semifinal against India he had spent the longest possible time in the nets trying to bat himself back into form. But what had followed was another scratchy 25 runs off 17 balls.
"There's elements (to what went wrong) that I actually don't really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn't work, and sometimes that's okay as well. That's something I've had to realise. It wasn't for a lack of effort; it just didn't quite happen,” he said.
