Malayalam star Mammootty has voiced his opinion on the latest row over Mohanlal and his band "Lalisom's" performance at the National games. The actor requested everyone to stop troubling Mohanlal and respect his good intentions of being part of the game.
"I have come here to request you all to stop haunting Mohanlal over this issue. An artist does his work after undergoing a lot of complications and the good and bad aspects of this are judged by audience. Mohanlal is our pride and we respect him for his acting capability and his work. I request all to respect his effort rather than dragging him to controversies," said Mammootty.
Mammootty also requested everyone to allow Mohanlal to get back to his work without any disturbance and let his colleague work peacefully.
"I extend my concern and support to him as a colleague, friend and fellow artist. These controversies spoil the grandeur and respectability of the National Games and I request we avoid such situations. I hope everyone will take my words in the right sense," concluded the superstar.
Mohanlal and his band "Lalisom" had come under fire after their poor performance at the National Games' inaugural ceremony at Greenfield Stadium in Trivandrum.
A video that surfaced online later stated that the performance was not live, but recorded. The viral video clearly showed the actor lip-syncing to the recorded audio. An online campaign demanded Mohanlal to return ₹2 crore, which he apparently charged for the show.
Later, Mohanlal came forward to admit that he had not received any remuneration for the show and that he wanted to just extend his support to the games. At the same time, he also added that he was approached by National Games organisers at the last minute for the show when their previous plan of a musical event failed to materialise.
At the same time, Mohanlal said that he had received ₹1.60 crore (excluding taxes) from the government to give remuneration to the artist and others supporting staff who were involved in the production of the show. Following the controversies, the actor offered to give back ₹1, 63,77,600 to the government, as he did not want his audience to have the "slightest of doubt" on his character.
