Ranjith Balakrishnan: Scripting Sleaze

AS DIRECTOR, PRODUCER and screenwriter, Ranjith Balakrishnan, popularly known as Ranjith, is a household name in Kerala, thanks as much to his bold political comments as to films in which his heroes often embody the swaggering patriarchal figure whose masculinity is steeped in sexism. Ranjith now finds himself in trouble for allegedly enacting in real life what his reel-life protagonists typically do: disrespect women and make sexual overtures without consent.

 He has been remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the Ernakulam sub jail based on a complaint lodged by a female actor who accused him of sexual harassment while they were inside a caravan at a shooting location in Kochi. This is not the first time Ranjith, a name associated with films as notable as Ravanaprabhu, Nandanam, Paleri Manikyam, Pranchiyettan & the Saint besides several others, has been accused by fellow actors of making inappropriate sexual advances. Actor Sreelekha Mitra alleged in 2024 that he had tried to abuse her in an Ernakulam flat during the audition of a 2009 film. A recipient of multiple national and state awards, Ranjith, now 61, was formerly chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

Over the past decade, particularly since the 2017 assault of an actor in a moving vehicle which spurred the #MeToo movement in the state, several top male film personalities in Kerala have faced similar charges and at least one faced jail term, shattering the impunity they once enjoyed.