Opium movie makers, Antony Pepe and more

Movie producers and technicians in the Malayalam industry are on a revelation spree these days. Recently many producers pointed out actors who are under the influence of banned drugs. Yesterday, famed director Jude Anthony Joseph lashed out strongly at actor Antony Varghese Pepe for cheating a producer. While these tumultuous scenes move on, shadow police and excise have decided it is high time to lock down the substance users within the reel world. The Kochi police commissioner has asked the shadows to do the work and prepare a list of actors who are constantly mired in drug usage. The issue sprouted after the producer's association decided to ban both Sreenath Bhasi and Shane Nigam from industry over poor ethics in work.

However, the issue took a serious turn only after the shocking revelations from actor Tini Tom. Mr. Tom vowed not to allow his son into the movie world. He even said his son received offers with star actors but he denied an entry fearing the rampant drug use in the industry. The film organizations have many times publicized about having list of drug users in the industry but seldom took forward the case. Now, with many people openly accusing actors by name, the police can't sit idle but act against the claims.

However, talks were doing the rounds showing the whole of the industry in poor light as influenced by drugs. Nothing of that is true since it is a paltry few who indulge in drugs within the industry. Apart from drugs, the burgeoning remuneration of actors is also turning into a headache for the producers. Only a few released movies completed at least 15 days in theatres this year. The industry is seeing a downfall while actors sit atop with humongous payment. The current trend to name actors for drug usage is doubted as a move from producers to bring down actors' pay to normal numbers.

This move has certainly created a rift within sections of the movie industry. It won't be that late to see an uproar within the industry with more turning fingers at each other.