'Oduvil's high praise of Adoor irked Ranjith'; Alleppey Ashraf reveals more details about slapping incident

Malayalam film director Alleppey Ashraf recently triggered a debate on social media by spilling beans about a grim incident circling veteran actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan. And now, Ashraf is back again giving more details about the incident.

Alleppey Ashraf:

“I maintained a great friendship with director Ranjith. But the incident of him slapping Oduvil took away the respect I had for him. Since then, I started distancing away from the director. I couldn’t stand the idea of talking to him again.

Many people are now asking me why I kept quiet while the incident happened. The question is genuine but there is a reason. If Oduvil or Ranjith decided to leave the set, the loss would have been for the producer. Everyone in the unit will only try to settle things and we did the same. But, I have personally expressed my protest to Ranjith over the issue.

On the day of the incident, Ranjith and Oduvil engaged in a glib talk about award films. Oduvil considers Adoor as a demigod and revere him much. In the discussion, Oduvil highly praised the director which incensed Ranjith. The talks later morphed into Ranjith slapping the veteran actor.

I still remember how Oduvil left the film set right after the incident. He was crying. For the next two days, no shoot of Oduvil was scheduled. After some days, he came back to the set, but by then a mournful look had engulfed his face.

I’m not the first one to reveal the incident. Years ago, Innocent revealed how a veteran actor fell on the ground after getting slapped by a director. Many mistook the actor for Thilakan, but it was indeed Oduvil.”