Why is Malayalam movie star Manju Warrier shutting out the media?

She’s had a fairly rough few years on the personal front, but the silver lining has been the immense appreciation she received for her comeback film ‘How Old Are You?’. However, the celebrations were short-lived for Malayalam actress Manju Warrier after her estranged actor-husband Dileep filed for divorce in a Kerala court last week.

The actress, who is in Dubai to attend the Grand Middle East Special Screening, has since stopped all media interactions, even if it’s to do with her new movie.

Manju Warrier (FACEBOOK)

“She doesn’t want to give any more interviews. Manju isn’t comfortable answering questions about her marriage. She’s someone who fiercely guards her personal life,” informed a source close to the actress.

“Despite numerous warnings to the media, questions about her personal life often creep up in the interviews, putting her in a spot.

“Now that the move has released and is running successfully all over Kerala, she’s OK to call the shots.”

Dileep has decided to end their 14-years of marriage legally after reportedly stating that she has been harassing him for a long time.

“The matrimonial issues between the respondent and myself are a very personal matter. To protect and prevent trial by the media and for proper conduct of proceedings before this court, it is necessary to conduct in camera trial,” he stated in a note to the court, as reported by OneIndia Entertainment.

Speculations about rifts in the marriage appeared when Manju returned to the stage with a spectacular Bharatanatyam performance. His absence at her show was rather telling of the issues.

Soon, she took on the role of a brand ambassador for Kalyan Jewellers, and appeared in numerous telly ads alongside Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and his stunning daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
 
While the Malayalam media applauded her return, her actor-husband conspicuously refrained from promoting her.

The two refused to acknowledge each other, and this lead to numerous speculations over their alleged split.

Initially, it was Malayalam actress Kavya Madhavan, who was proclaimed the reason for it. Although Dileep-Kavvya’s rumoured affair has been much publicized, it went into a limbo after the actress married a businessman settled in the Gulf. It was only after her divorce that things got sticky.

While Kavvya blamed her ex-husband Nischal Chandra and his family for ill-treating her, he retorted by stating that “she had remained in touch with an actor with whom she has been reportedly close for many years”.

Both Dileep and Kavvya have claimed they are “just friends”, and in what many speculate is damage control, he has turned the blame on his wife.

After being mum for so long, he unexpectedly opened up to a leading Malayalam lifestyle magazine about his rocky marriage.

He blamed her decision to revive her acting career as the main reason for their spilt.

In fact, he even admitted to coaxing his filmmaker-friends to strike her out of their movies. Apparently that was part of the reason why she was struck out of Ranjith’s movie, alongside Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, which was supposed to be her comeback film.

“I’d told Priyadarshan that I wouldn’t like it if he cast Manju,” he told the magazine.

There were also rumours of how her ‘How Old Are You?’ co-star Kunchacko Boban was under tremendous pressure to pull-out from the film.

Interestingly, Manju’s comeback film displays an uncanny reflection of her real life about how a married woman struggles to break free from the homemaker stereotype and live a life of her own after her husband and teenaged daughter abandon her.

Dileep was even blamed for mocking her in his recent movie ‘Ringmaster’.

Some Malayalam movie insiders claimed that Dileep is using his clout to ensure Manju doesn’t get any more offers. “He’s friends with most of the top actors and many have categorically said that they wouldn’t act with her. Probably she’d now move to the Tamil industry,” our source added.

He even spoke at length about the struggles he has had to function as a single-working parent of their teenaged daughter after Manju moved out of their house a while back. “He’s obviously hinting at how she’s a bad mother for abandoning her daughter,” added a source from the film industry.

According to media reports, their daughter Meenakshi chose to live with her father. This clearly worked against Manju, with many blaming her for giving glamour more prominence than her child.

Unfortunately, it’s the timing of his divorce application that appears rather tricky.

After flaunting his broken heart and expressing his desire to even work out a solution, it’s surprising how he decided to end it all just weeks after Manju’s movie has been declared a hit.

Manju had slipped away from the spotlight after dominating it for nearly four years with 20 super-hits for a life of marital bliss. She was on top of her game at the time, and Dileep was a newcomer trying to make his mark.

Today, the equations have obviously changed.

She debuted at the age of 18 with ‘Sallapam’ in 1996 opposite Dileep. In such a short span, she won over the hearts of millions. Her performance in ‘Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu’ won her a special mention from jury for the Indian national film awards.

Manju, however, has played a dignified silence and has refused to clarify or comment on Dileep’s allegations.

She is apparently focused on her movies, and is backed amply by her bunch of girl pals in the industry – filmmaker Geetu Mohandas, actress Sweta Menon and Bhavana and designer Poornima Indrajit.

With so much bad blood between the two, we only hope time will be the big healer.

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