Malayalam filmmaker Chidambaram S Poduval found himself in the middle of a controversy after a case was filed against him, where he was accused of sexually harassing a young woman in 2022. He was booked for sexual harassment by Kochi police. As per the latest update from Live Law, the director has been granted anticipatory bail.
Chidambaram granted anticipatory bail
The District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam on Saturday (March 7) granted anticipatory bail to the director. It was Sri. K.K. Balakrishnan, District Judge passed the order.
The incident that allegedly took place in 2022 pertains to him trespassing into the complainant’s apartment and sexually misbehaving with her. The case was registered under Sections 74 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said. The complainant’s statement was recorded before the case was registered. Chidambaram is yet to respond to the allegations.
Before news of his sexual harassment case broke, Chidambaram made his previously public Instagram account private. A rumour was circulating that the Manjummel Boys team was planning to make a film with Dileep. He took to social media on Saturday and wrote on his Instagram stories, “Please verify before you post trash. And I am not a survival thriller specialist.”
About Chidambaram
Chidambaram, a Payyanur native, began his career in the Malayalam film industry as an assistant director to Jayaraj and assistant cinematographer to Rajeev Ravi and KU Mohanan, Malavika Mohanan’s father. He debuted as a director with the 2021 film Jan.E.Man, starring Basil Joseph, Lal, Arjun Ashokan, Balu Varghese, and Ganapathi S Poduval.
It was the 2024 film Manjummel Boys, which shot him to fame. The survival thriller became one of the Malayalam film industry’s highest-grossing films. It stars Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Deepak Parambol, Balu Varghese, and others. Drawing inspiration from true events, it tells the tale of a group of friends who encounter misfortune during their 2006 vacation at the Guna caves. At the box office. It collected ₹241 crore worldwide and over ₹142 crore net in India.
His next directorial release is Balan. The movie is produced by Venkat K Narayana and Shailaja Desai Fenn under the banner of KVN Productions and Thespian Films. The music of the movie is composed by Sushin Shyam, while the cinematography will be handled by Shyju Khalid. The film will be edited by Vivek Harshan.