Escaped twice, not anymore; 'Macho' film director's fall from grace

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Film director Ranjith, arrested on a complaint of sexual harassment, is no stranger to similar allegations. Ranjith escaped twice from police action after the court ruled in favour of the cinema director,

The first instance happened when a Bengali actress filed a complaint against the director, alleging misbehaviour during discussions of the movie Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha. It was one of the first revelations following the release of the Hema Committee report. Subsequently, Ranjith had to resign from the post of Kerala Film Academy Chairman.

However, the High Court quashed the sexual assault case filed by a Bengali actress in October 2025 after considering a counter-petition filed by Ranjith. The High Court's action was taken because the time limit for the magistrate's court to file a case in the 2009 incident had expired. The second complaint was filed by a young man from Kozhikode, alleging sexual assault by the director in Bengaluru. The Karnataka High Court also quashed the case against Ranjith, stating that the young man had filed the complaint 12 years after the incident, that the allegations in the complaint were not clear, and that the delay in filing the complaint was suspicious.

"It has been proven that Ranjith is not a good person as it seems. I thank the actress who filed the complaint. Everyone should follow this as an example. Ranjith earlier said that I was lying through my allegations. Now it is clear who lied," said the Bengali actress who had previously filed a complaint against Ranjith.