The leadership tussle within the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) has entered another phase after the actors Joy Mathew, Jayn Cherthala and Kailash came out of the executive committee headed by Shwetha Menon.
The resignation follows an Ad Hoc committee debate
The documents were issued soon after Shwetha Menon publicly challenged the committee’s legitimacy through a detailed statement. In his letter, he insisted that he continues to be the President of AMMA as he has not resigned from the post.Earlier, the members of the ad hoc committee said that neither Shwetha Menon nor any member of her team had submitted their resignations. This has happened even though the executive committee announced its suspension at the Annual General Body meeting held last month.The ad hoc committee, chaired by Ramesh Pisharody, has already started working and recently held its first meeting where the issue of leadership was not resolved.
Jayan Cherthala and Kailash explain their decision
Speaking to On Manorama, about his resignation, Kailash confirmed that he has resigned from the executive committee. However, he explained that it was a personal decision and did not elaborate.Jayan Cherthala also confirmed his resignation from the same portal, saying that his decision was guided by good intentions. According to him, the declaration made at the meeting of the General Body should be respected.He said: “Our termination was announced in front of all the members of the union. According to the situation in the union, this decision is valid because it was made in front of the main body.” 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 of the three to quit, followed by Joy Mathew and Kailash.Meanwhile, Joy Mathew said that he no longer sees the purpose of continuing with the organization that has been divided. It is said that according to the rules, Shwetha Menon is the president of the organization because she did not submit a resignation letter.
Shwetha Menon says she will not resign
Shwetha Menon has also insisted that she has no intention of resigning until she clears her name and proves her innocence in the allegations against her executive committee.In a statement he shared on Instagram, he wrote, “I remained silent all these days because of AMMA. I thought that if I remained silent, the controversy surrounding AMMA would end. But since my reputation is constantly under scrutiny and defamed, I will not go down without proving my innocence.”He added, “Today, they are saying that I betrayed the members… that I left AMMA. No… I didn’t betray anyone, nor did I leave AMMA. At the AMMA Regional Conference held on June 21, 2026, a few people (to be honest, 10-15 AMMA members who were dismissed by AMMA) came to prepare for our meeting with the Executive Committee.They published a previously published resolution containing several baseless arguments against our Executive Committee. We had clear, principled, and well-reasoned responses to all of these cases. “The actor said, “Although this resolution was given to me, it was not passed under Article XII (e) of the AMMA Constitution. Out of the 243 members who attended the meeting, they failed to get two-thirds of the 162 votes. Therefore, the resolution was not approved and does not have any legal basis.Today, it is said that the Ad-Hoc Committee was established based on the General Body’s decision. “
Leadership uncertainty continues
AMMA’s leadership crisis is far from over as three members have now resigned and Shwetha Menon continues to challenge the legality of the ad hoc committee. All eyes are on what the board is doing as members await clarity on the leadership issue.