A case has been registered against Malayalam filmmaker Chidambaram S Poduval, Kochi police confirmed to PTI on Monday. The Manjummel Boys director has been accused of sexually harassing a young woman in 2022. Before news broke, the director made his Instagram account private, which many initially believed was due to cyberbullying by actor Dileep’s fans.
The case against Manjummel Boys director Chidambaram
According to the news agency, Ernakulam South Police registered a case against Chidambaram on Sunday following a complaint filed by a woman. The incident that allegedly took place in 2022 pertains to him trespassing into the complainant’s apartment and sexually misbehaving with her.
The case has been 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.
A notice will now be issued to Chidambaram, asking him to appear for questioning. The filmmaker, who also directed Jan.E.Man, has yet to respond to these allegations.
Chidambaram made his Instagram account private
On Saturday, 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.”
That was all it took for Dileep’s fans to spam the filmmaker, who soon took down his story and made his account private. Many on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit had assumed that he made his account private due to the bullying. However, after news of his alleged sexual harassment, others wondered if it was because he was getting ahead of it.
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.
However, his claim to fame is the 2024 film Manjummel Boys, which became one of the Malayalam film industry’s highest-grossing films. It stars Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Deepak Parambol, Balu Varghese, and others. It collected ₹241 crore worldwide and over ₹142 crore net in India. He has three films lined up.