Shooting set of Malayalam movie 'Minnal Murali' vandalised, Kerala CM warns of strict action

Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], May 26 : The shooting set of a church built for Malayalam movie 'Minnal Murali' has been allegedly vandalised by a group of people at Kalady in Kerala's Ernakulam district.
The incident took place on Sunday evening.
Several members of Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) and Bajrang Dal in Kerala claimed responsibility for destroying the shooting set of the church, by posting about it on their social media pages.
One person has been arrested in connection with the incident.
''A person named Ratheesh was arrested today (Monday) in the incident. He is one of the workers of AHP. We are tracing another four persons who are behind this incident,'' Perumbavoor Police said.
The 'Minnal Murali' team built a massive set of a church on the banks of Periyar river in Kalady, which happens to be on the opposite bank of Adi Sankaracharya mutt. The film personnel built the set after seeking permission from the Gram Panchayat and related authorities.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that strict action will be taken against the culprits.
''Kerala will never be a place where fanatics of any kind would be allowed to go scot-free. All of you can be rest assured that all those who destroyed the film set near Kochi will be tackled as per law. What is wrong if a film set remains there, as we all know that due to COVID-19, all film shootings came to a sudden halt. These acts will not be tolerated,'' he said.
Aluva Shivaratri Manappuram Samithi, who owns the land on which the set was built, filed a complaint with the Perumbavoor Police.
''The film production company had also applied to Aluva Shivaratri Manappuram Samithi for the permission to shoot. The shooting could not be completed due to lockdown. Yesterday, (Sunday) a group of people destroyed the set. Many items were stolen from here. So, we filed a complaint with the police. We have also given statements to the police,'' Subin Kumar, Aluva Shivaratri Manappuram Samithi, said.
Hari Palode, the state general secretary of AHP, stated on Facebook that the location of Minnal Murali's church set was built close to Adi Sankaracharya mutt, and that was the reason for their vandalism.
'Minnal Murali' required about two years of pre-production work and the set was the pivotal part of the movie, as the team was planning to film some important portions of the movie there. However, due to the lockdown, the team had to postpone the shoot.
Tovino Thomas, who is the lead role in the film, said, "Minnal Murali's first schedule at Wayanad had been in progress when the set for the second schedule began construction at Kalady. It was carried out by art director Manu Jagad and team, under special instructions by stunt choreographer Vlad Rimburg."
"For this, we had the rightful permissions from the concerned authorities. As we were about to start shooting in this set -- which was built at a considerable cost, the whole country went into lockdown, following which our shoot was halted," he said.
Advocate Thulasi, President of Kalady Grama Panchayath said, ''Kalady Grama Panchayath was given the permission to build the set for shooting. They legally applied for permission. We checked it out and gave permission. There was no illegal construction on the banks of Periyar river.''
Sophia Paul, who is the producer of the film, took to Facebook and termed the incident as "unfortunate and a colossal loss".
"Minnal Murali is an ambitious superhero project which is under production and we have filmed almost a major portion of the film. The film required almost two years of pre-production and planning owing to the scope and scale of the film. The remaining portion of the movie will be shot as soon as restrictions for movie production is lifted," Paul said.
"The next schedule is planned in Kalady and we have had constructed a massive set of a church where the climax was to be shot. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, we could not resume the shoot and was waiting for government guidance regarding the permissions to resume the shoot. The set at Kalady was planned and built for one of our most important scenes. All required permissions to build the set at the location was taken. The incident is so unfortunate and a colossal loss," she further said.