Thiruvananthapuram: Trouble seems to boil over for actor Mohanlal as Khadi Board vice-chairperson Shobhana George too has begun an onslaught against him.

But Shobhana's fight is not for gender, but business parity. The Khadi Board vice-chairperson wants to enter the Rs 100-crore club this year.

But Mohanlal, the state's one and only Rs-100-crore hero, stands in the way. Shobhana George has sent a legal notice to a leading dhoti manufacturing firm asking it to pull out an advertisement showing Mohanlal weaving in front of a 'charkha'.

"There are posters all around where our big star is seen seated before a charkha," Shobhana George said, carefully avoiding the star's name.

"This is a misrepresentation. These powerloom companies have no right to use the 'charkha' image. It is khadi's exclusive symbol. The image of a highly loved star working a 'charkha' might give the public the wrong impression that powerloom products too are handmade like khadi ones,” she said.

The board vice-chairperson said khadi products are "100 per cent handspun". "Right from dyeing to drying to spinning, the entire process is done using only hands. It is a painstakingly slow process, but done meticulously and with utmost skill. Therefore, it takes a group of women a day to make a handspun saree. But 40 such sarees can be churned out in a day by powerlooms," Shobhana said.

Not only are the powerlooms infinitely more productive but have now started to give themselves a traditional aura. The ad with Mohanlal on the 'charkha' had appeared in June. Sobhana George, therefore, has also filed a vigilance complaint against powerlooms selling mechanised khadi as handmade.

Her urgency springs from the target she has set for Khadi Board this year. "Last year, our turnover was Rs 88 crore. This time we want to achieve a turnover of Rs 100 crore," the vice-chairperson said. The big powerlooms, which are giving themselves a traditional image on the eve of Onam, might upset her calculations.

The bulk of Khadi Board's revenue comes during Onam. Last year, Rs 34 crore of its total turnover of Rs 89 crore were mobilised during Onam season alone. This Onam, through its annual 'rebate sales' or Onam-Bakrid Khadi Mela, it hopes to mop up Rs 40 crore. The 25-day mela will begin on August 1 and end on August 24.

The board has tried to make the mela as attractive as possible. It has introduced the 'Sakhavu' shirts. Many see this as Shobhana George's Gandhian way of getting back at the Congress party. Till now it was the white khadi of the Congressman. From this year on, the comrade too will be seen in a khadi, a red one.

'Sakhavu' shirts are not the only new attraction. Never before seen trendy silk sarees and tops will also be on sale. To draw as much government employees as possible, they have been given a credit of up to Rs 50,000; till now it was Rs 30,000.

But for all her innovative value additions to bear fruit Shobhana George first has to put in place a 'charkah'-spinning Mohanlal.

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