Hains B., managing director of Snakeplant, a limited liability partnership firm engaged in promotional marketing of films, and the first accused in a police case registered based on a complaint by the director of the recently released Malayalam movie Rahel Makan Kora, has said that the accusations levelled against him by the makers of the film are false. He said he would move a defamation suit very shortly.
Snakeplant was engaged for the promotion of the film by its producers. Its director E. Ubaini later lodged a complaint against Mr. Hains with the Ernakulam Central police, accusing him of blackmail with the intention of extortion and being responsible for the negative reviews against the movie. A case has since been registered against Mr. Hains, six online reviewers, and social media platforms YouTube and Facebook.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Hains said Mr. Ubaini asked him to accompany him to the police station to lodge a complaint against the online reviewers who had criticised the movie. Since that was not part of the contract for the promotion of the film, he refused, he said. Besides, the filmmaker also sought the personal information of those critics, but Mr. Hains said he tried to discourage the director, saying that focussing on criticism would do more harm than good to the movie.
Complaint lodged
“However, our advice was not well-received by the director and producer, resulting in a police complaint alleging that we were responsible for the negative reviews. We deny these allegations. Even days before these allegations, we were actively creating promotional content and coordinating ground-level activities to boost the film’s visibility. In fact, the director himself had praised our work at an event held in Thiruvananthapuram,” said Mr. Hains.
He challenged Mr. Ubaini to prove the allegations of blackmailing levelled against him. He said he had not interacted with any other accused in the case. “There also remains an outstanding payment for our services, which we hope can be resolved amicably and swiftly,” Mr. Hains said.
Director’s stance
When contacted, Mr. Ubaini said he had submitted all relevant evidence to prove his allegations before the police and the court. He declined to make further comments on the issue citing the directions of the Kerala Film Producers Association and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) to avoid making comments in the media about a case that is under the consideration of the court.
