‘I was the anchor of that programme, Jewel Mary reveals reason for not inviting Ramesh Narayan on stage

Actress and anchor Jewel Mary came to the fore reacting to Asif Ali-Ramesh Narayan controversy. The incident that happened at the Crowne Plaza in Kochi on Monday evening at the trailer launch of the anthology series 'Manorathangal', based on nine short stories by M T Vasudevan Nair, had stoked a controversy. Jewel Mary was the anchor of the show.

Jewel said there was a serious lapse from the part of the organization and it was a mistake from her side in calling Ramesh Narayan’s name wrongly. She also said the reason for not inviting him to the stage and present him the memento.

‘After thinking for a long time, I thought of clarifying some things to you. I was the anchor of the launch of 'Manorathangal' programme convened on Monday. 'Manorathmanal' is an anthology series based on nine short stories by MT Sir. It is not a film but nine short movies. A lot of people including the stars of the nine films, directors, music directors and other technical experts were there at the launch.

The function was going on smoothly. There was a confusion on the part of the organizers as to who would come and who would not. The list given to me was incomplete. In the meantime, some names were erased and some added. This is natural. As you all can see in the one-minute video, you will not understand what actually happened there.

The function goes on. Ramesh Narayan Sir composed music for the film directed by Jayaraj Sir. I had the list of people included in these nine films. You can't learn all the names by heart. Read the name by looking at the list. Ramesh Narayan Sir's name was not in the list. It was a mistake occurred from the part of the organizers who gave me the list. The people from that film, who came to the dais did not notice it. No one called him to the stage with that team at that time. It is the lapse of the organizers themselves. As the host of that programme, I also apologize for it. It was a crowded event. A lot of media were also there.

The show director came to me and mentioned about it. He told me Asif Ali is sitting there, make him give the memento to Ramesh Narayan and then showed the music composer to me. His name was mentioned to me. In that sudden situation, I knew his name, but called wrongly. There was no one there to correct me at that time.

You will understand if watched that video. After announcing his name as Santhosh Narayan, I looked to the side and asked his exact name. I knew that I was wrong. Someone called Ramesh Narayan, without even ten seconds of hesitation I announced his name and said that Asif Ali will be presenting the memento to Ramesh Sir'. A question arose at that time. Why was he not invited to the stage? I was informed that it is difficult for Ramesh Sir to climb the stairs as he has some problem on his legs. As Asif Ali was sitting next to him, the show director asked to invite Asif Ali to present the award.