Aadi Manthyantham Rejected From IFFK 2011 Director To Fast On Inaugural Day

There will not be any Malayalam movies in the International competition section of 16th IFFK, which begins on December 9 2011 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Aadaminte Makan Abu and Aadi Madyantham, the two Malayalam films scheduled in the International competition category will not be screened. Adhimandyantham, directed by Sherry is rejected from IFFK. It is alleged that it was an incomplete work. Academy Chairman Priyadarsan said "Aadi Madyantham was submitted to the jury before completion of shooting of the film". Adaminte Makan Abu is also dropped from the International competition category, considering the IFFK festival by-law, which lays down that any film that has already participated in any International section of the Indian Film Festival is not eligible for entry into the competition section. Adaminte Makan Abu has won special jury award in the Goa International Film Festival.

Sherry said, he has submitted the completed DVD of the cinema before the jury and has made allegations of malpractice by a caucus to bar his film from the Festival. In protest against the decision to reject Aadi Madyantham, director Sherry will observe an indefinite fast along with some noted film personalities before Kairali Theatre, the venue of festival inauguration, on December 9. Sherry has approached High Court of Kerala to revoke the decision. But the court did not intervene in the issue. A Division bench of High court will hear the review petition on Tuesday.

The story of Sherry's film is about a deaf and dumb child, who hails from North Malabar, compelled to follow the age old family tradition of performing a 'Vedan' ritual. Director T.V. Chandran commented that "Aadi Madyantham is a film with a different theme, excellent visuals and poetic flow. Its exclusion from IFFK is not only an insult to the director but to the Malayalam film industry as a whole''.