Kamal lashes out at superstar fan clubs

Kamal, one of the better directors in Malayalam who had the guts to make films with newcomers and ordinary stars is peeved. His Minnaminikootam with upcoming stars like Narain, Jayasurya, Indrajith, Meera Jasmine, Roma has bombed miserably at the box-office. Minnaminikootam was released on July 11, and there was a lot of hype and hope riding on it. The industry people were really praying that the film turns out to be a hit. Everybody was on the lookout for an alternative to Mammootty and Mohanlal. The feeling within is that unless there is an alternative to the superstars, Malayalam film industry will die. So Kamal's film was supposed to throw up alternative stars, but our audiences as usual rejected the film. Now Kamal held a press conference in Kochi on Friday and said that "certain vested interests" were out to make his film a commercial flop. Kamal pointed out that in the Ernakulam theatre where his film is running, people in large numbers come and start hooting when the titles appear! This "hoot brigade" continues to hoot throughout the film as though they were paid money by certain people to run down the film! The needle of suspicion of those behind the "hoot brigade", according to industry veterans is the superstar's fan clubs. Kamal in his press conference hinted that these fans associations were targeting his films. He also said they were the bane of the industry and has damaged the edifice of Malayalam cinema. Hats off to Kamal for speaking the truth.