Suresh Gopi gave Rs.25,000, Ganesh Kumar and I contributed Rs 10,000 each: Maniyanpilla Raju on formation of AMMA

Election to the executive committee of Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) was held a few days ago. Even though some differences cropped, the actors claim that the election went smoothly. Pictures and videos of the meeting are going viral on social media. In one such video, actor Maniyanpilla Raju spoke about the beginnings of AMMA.

"In 1994, Suresh Gopi came to me and said that everyone else has formed their unions, except us. Let's make one. He asked me to take the initiative for it. On that day, Suresh Gopi gave Rs.25,000. Ganesh Kumar and I contributed Rs 10,000 each. With this money , a meeting was held at the panchayat hall in Thiruvananthapuram. 85 people participated, including Mammootty and Mohanlal.

The meeting, which had a sadya, was held from morning to evening. That's how AMMA was formed. Suresh Gopi took the first membership of the organization, Ganesh Kumar the second membership and I took the third membership. We decided to do a show afterwards. The recently deceased Gandhimathi Balan took over the show. Shows were held at three locations. The show was a huge success. That was AMMA's first fund. Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan came to the show that day.

There were 110 members when AMMA was formed. And now there are more than 500 members. AMMA is moving forward with good things. In the last 25 years, Edavela Babu did well. Now, with Mohanlal as the president, the organization will become stronger. There are a lot of shows in the making," Maniyanpilla Raju said.