THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This is the first time a superstar of the Malayalam film industry is responding to the Hema Committee Report. Mohanlal for the first time faced the media and said that he has not fled anywhere. He said that he is not reacting to things which he doesn’t know and that he is not the one to give an authoritative reply on the Hema Committee report.

'I have not absconded anywhere. I’ve been traveling with you for 47 years. Did not come due to some personal reasons. I was in the hospital over my wife's surgery. The shooting of Barroz is going on,’ the actor cited all these as the reason for the delay in meeting the media.

The actor said things happening in other places are happening in films also. I am not encouraging it. He said that he welcomes the Hema Committee Report. I had appeared twice before the commission. I replied to all their questions. I am an actor and a producer. I told them everything about my film. They asked me about films. I cannot give an answer to all that. I told the committee about the things I knew.

The association ‘AMMA’ is not an association having the nature of a trade union. It's like a family having nearly 500 people. It started thirty years ago from Thiruvananthapuram for the welfare of the actors. It started to do some good things to those with us and to help them when they have a problem. Many later joined the association.

‘I've been in it since the formation of the association. Had been the president of it twice. If you ask me why I stepped down from it, the Malayalam film industry on the whole has to answer. The Hema Committee report has pointed many things. We saw AMMA’s committee being blamed for everything. It may contain errors. Let's talk about it later. When such criticisms came, I thought it should be a platform for everyone to talk. The association AMMA should give a reply. We decided to stay away from it after holding talks with my lawyers and my seniors. The activities of AMMA have not been stopped. We distribute pensions and has to give insurance and we have many other things to do. We have not stayed away completely from it. It was done after seeking everyone's permission.

Tens of thousands of people are working in the film industry. It is a field that has been made very hard. The glory of Malayalam cinema is known when we go to other languages. Please don't destroy this film industry. There is a government, a committee and police. This is an issue that is in the court. So, cannot comment authoritatively. All I can say is, there are tens of thousands of employees. The industry should move forward,’ said Mohanlal.