Tovino Thomas hits out at ‘religious fanatics’ for destroying the church set of his film ‘Minnal Murali’

The members of Antharashtra Hindu Parishad (AHP) and Bajrang Dal claimed responsibility for the vandalism, with Kerala CM promising that action will be taken against them

Malayalam actor Tovino Thomas has hit out at the ‘religious fanatics’ of a right-wing group who destroyed the film sets of his upcoming movie Minnal Murali, on Sunday. The movie follows the tale of a superhero and is directed by Basil Joseph, also starring Aju Varghese and Harisree Ashokan.

Several members of Antharashtra Hindu Parishad (AHP) and Bajrang Dal in Kerala claimed responsibility for destroying the movie set of a church, by posting about it on their social media pages. They stated that the location of Minnal Murali’s church set was close to Adi Sankaracharya mutt in Kalady near Ernakulam, and that was the reason for their vandalism.

Tovino took to his Facebook page in shock to write about the crime stating that 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 proper permissions from the concerned authorities. And as we were about to start shooting in this set – which was built on a considerable cost, the whole country went into lockdown, following which our shoot was paused, just like all others.”

He added that it was during this prevailing uncertainty that this contractual set was destroyed by a group of racialists yesterday. “The reasons they cite for this unceremonious act are not understood to our senses till now. We’ve heard of movie sets being vandalised by religious fanatics in Northern parts of India. Now, it’s happening to us right here.”

The actor also shared pictures of the vandalism on set.

According to reports, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressed the issue at a press briefing, and stated that the motive was to incite religious sentiments. “Kerala is not a land where such communal forces can thrive. The government will take strong action against them.”

The director of the movie, Basil Joseph and producer Sophia Paul also posted about the incident calling it a “colossal loss”, and added that a complaint had been filed with the police.

AHP’s General Secretary Hari Palode shared on his Facebook account the pictures of right-wing members destroying the film set. He said that “We don’t have the habit of pleading. We decided to demolish it. Our self-respect must be protected at all cost.”