How Ansiba Hassan’s fight over allegations and accounts shook AMMA general body

What began as a routine general body meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) on Sunday quickly turned into something far more charged and, by Ansiba Hassan’s account, far more revealing.

Actor and former joint secretary Ansiba Hassan said the meeting did not deliver closure to the concerns she has been raising for months within the organisation. Instead, she described it as a day when long-simmering questions over accountability, conduct, and finances finally spilled into the open, ending in the executive committee stepping down.

Ansiba, who recently resigned from her post, said her fight within the organisation had been building over time. Among her allegations were claims that actor and executive committee member Tiny Tom made derogatory remarks about her religious identity and accused her of involvement in religious conversion activities.

But it was the question of finances, she said, that ultimately defined the tone of the meeting.

According to Ansiba, the turning point came when the executive committee failed to produce clear and verifiable records of financial transactions and annual expenditure. “The executive committee could not produce proper records of financial transactions. Every year, the annual expenditure has to be presented, passed, and registered within 10 days, but it was not passed because the EC could not provide clarity in the accounts. That itself led to the committee stepping down,” she said.

The meeting, which began around 10 am, started in a controlled atmosphere. Ansiba alleged that for a significant part of the morning, members were not given space to speak freely under president Shwetha Menon’s chairing of the session. But as the hours passed, she said the mood inside the hall shifted.

 Questions began to surface more openly, first about procedure and then about the accounts themselves.

For Ansiba, what followed was a rare moment of alignment inside the room. She said she was able to place all her concerns before the general body, and that a large section of members backed her position. “I had truth on my side, so people naturally understood the issues I was raising,” she said.

The meeting also saw sharp exchanges over remarks made by Tiny Tom, including his reference to her as a “jihadi” within the organisation and his questioning of her police complaint. Ansiba pushed back, saying the legal process was being misrepresented. “A case cannot reach a conclusion in two days,” she said, adding that she had asserted her right to pursue legal action and not allow police procedures to be interfered with. She also rejected his claim that he had introduced her to the working committee or that she was being influenced by external narratives.

As the discussion deepened, Ansiba said the numbers in the room began to shift with it. Members, she claimed, started questioning the credibility of the financial records. A show of hands, she said, reflected a majority who did not trust the figures presented by the executive committee, with only a small group standing by them. Even when the accounts came up again later, she said there was no backing to pass them.

“The financial records were not accurate. My issue was not the only concern. There were several financial transactions that were not properly approved by the executive committee. Events were conducted without proper clearance as well,” she said.

She also referred to a disciplinary committee that had been set up to look into complaints raised by actor Neena Kurup, including allegations that Tiny Tom had attempted physical assault and used abusive language. According to Ansiba, that committee was later dissolved by the executive committee.

On the wider dynamics within the organisation, she pointed out that she was not the only one who had escalated matters outside internal channels, referring to vice-president Lakshmipriya’s earlier police complaint against her. That, she said, was part of what pushed her to approach the police and pursue legal action herself.

Ansiba added that senior members, including Mohanlal, had stated they would abide by the decision of the general body. “I will not take a personal stand; I will go with whatever the general body decides,” she quoted him as saying, adding that several senior artistes supported the collective stand taken during the meeting.

The executive committee, she said, had sought 45 days to correct account statements and expenditure records. But the general body, according to her account, was unconvinced. Trust in the numbers had already eroded.

By the end of the day, Ansiba said, even the early control over proceedings had given way. “In the morning, it felt like autocratic control. But by noon, people began speaking openly. Even at the start, the general body had made it clear that it did not trust the accounts and that the committee should step down,” she said.

For her, the meeting was not just about personal grievances but about something larger shifting inside the organisation. “This is not just about me. What happened shows the need for better accountability and better leadership in this organisation,” she said.