AMMA leadership row: Actors Kailash, Joy Mathew and Gyan Cherthala resign. The crisis is deepening

The leadership tussle within the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) has entered a new phase after actors Joy Mathew, Gyan Cherthala and Kailash formally resigned from the Shwetha Menon-led executive committee.

Resignations follow discussion on the ad hoc committee

The resignations were tendered soon after Shwetha Menon publicly challenged the legitimacy of the ad hoc committee through a detailed statement on social media. She confirmed in her post that she still holds the position of President of AMMA as she has not officially resigned from the position.Earlier, members of the ad hoc committee had stated that neither Shwetha Menon nor any member of its executive committee had formally submitted their resignation letters.

This came despite the announcement of the dissolution of the Executive Committee during the Federation’s annual general assembly meeting held last month.The ad hoc committee, headed by Ramesh Pisharody, has already begun its work and recently held its first meeting while the leadership issue remained unresolved.

Jayan Chertala and Kailash explain their decision

Speaking to On Manorama, about his resignation, Kailash confirmed that he has resigned from the executive committee.

But he described this as a personal decision and did not go into further details.Jayan Cherthala also confirmed his resignation through the same portal, stating that his decision was guided by ethical considerations. According to him, the announcement made before the general body meeting deserves respect.He said: “Our dissolution was announced before the members’ meeting in the General Assembly, and according to the organizational hierarchy, this decision has force because it was taken before the General Assembly.”

“There may be legal arguments that the decision is invalid, but I respect the public body and the decisions made there.”Jayan also revealed that he was the first to quit among the three, followed later by Joy Mathew and Kailash.Meanwhile, Joey Matthew stated that he no longer saw any purpose in remaining with an organization that had become divided. He is said to have confirmed that, legally, Shwetha Menon remains the association’s president as she has not submitted her formal resignation letter.

Shwetha Menon says she will not step down

Shwetha Menon confirmed that she does not plan to relinquish her position until she clears her name and proves her innocence regarding the allegations leveled against her executive committee.“I have been silent all these days for AMMA. I thought that if I stayed silent, the controversy surrounding AMMA would end. But since my reputation is constantly being targeted and tarnished, I will not step down without proving my innocence,” she wrote in a statement posted on Instagram.She added: “Today, they say that I betrayed the members… that I abandoned AMMA. No… I did not betray anyone, nor did I abandon AMMA. At the AMMA Annual General Body Meeting held on June 21, 2026, a few individuals (to be precise, 10-15 AMMA members) came to the meeting with a pre-planned agenda to force our Executive Committee to resign.They circulated a pre-printed resolution containing several baseless allegations against our Executive Committee.

We had clear, fact-based and legally sound answers to each of these allegations.”The representative stated: “Although this resolution was delivered to me, it was never passed under Article XII(e) of the AMMA Bylaws. Of the 243 members who attended the meeting, the resolution failed to receive the required two-thirds majority of 162 votes. Therefore, the resolution was not passed and has no legal validity whatsoever.Today they claim that the special committee was formed based on the decision of the General Assembly.”

Leadership uncertainty persists

AMMA’s leadership crisis remains unresolved with three members formally resigning and Shwetha Menon continuing to contest the legal position of the ad hoc committee. All eyes are now on what’s next for the association as members wait for more clarity on the leadership issue.