The website also mentioned the names of producers Antony Perumbavoor and Listin Stephen.
Prithviraj Sukumaran. (Supplied)
On Thursday, 11 May, Facebook feeds of cinema forums were flooded with news that five Malayalam film producers were under the scanner of the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The discussion that one of the producers — also an actor — was fined ₹25 crore by the ED for receiving black money from foreign nations to finance “propaganda” films, became a hot topic on social media.
Though the producer-actor’s name wasn’t disclosed, a few online websites of leading Malayalam dailies also reported the news.
However, Marunadan Malayali — an online news portal known for yellow journalism — reported that Prithviraj Sukumaran is one of the producers who were under the ED scanner.
According to its report published on Thursday, 11 May, the website alleged that the actor received money from certain sources in the Middle East for financing “propaganda” films which triggered the ED investigation.
The report also mentioned that producers Antony Perumbavoor and Listin Stephen were under the scanner of the central agencies.
Following this, Prithviraj Sukumaran lashed out at Marunadan Malayali for making defamatory allegations against him.
The actor, through his social media handle, said the allegations are “false and defamatory”.
“The allegations are devoid of any truth, are malicious, and defamatory,” his post read.
The 40-year-old actor also revealed that he was pursuing the legal course over the allegations made against him.
Further, Prithviraj Sukumaran advised the media to “ensure that any further reporting on the allegations are done only after facts are verified and confirmed.”
The Income Tax (I-T) department held a raid on the properties of Prithviraj, Antony Perumbavoor and Listin Stephen in December 2022. The raid was part of an investigation carried out by the I-T department (Kerala) to check the financial transactions of producers and distributors of the Malayalam industry.
Akshay Kumar’s ‘Selfiee’ poster. (Facebook)
Prithviraj Productions is a leading production and distribution company that has distributed blockbuster films such as KGF: Chapter 2 (2022), Kantara (2022) and 777 Charlie (2022).
The company, along with Listin Stephen’s Magic Frames banner, produced Jana Gana Mana (2022), Kumari (2022) and Gold (2022).
Prithviraj Productions also spread its wings to Bollywood by producing Akshay Kumar’s Selfiee (2023).
The actor will be next seen in some of the much-anticipated films —Salaar (Telugu) and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (Hindi).
Meanwhile, his most-anticipated Malayalam movie Aadujeevitham is in its post-production works.
The actor is also directing Mohanlal’s Empuraan, one of the big-budgeted Malayalam movies produced by Antony Perumbavoor.
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