Dileep (actor)

Early life

Dileep was born Gopalakrishnan as the eldest among three children to Padmanabhan Pillai and Sarojam on 27 October 1968 in Aluva, Ernakulam district, Kerala. He has a younger brother, Anoop and a younger sister, Sabitha. He studied in VVBHS high school (passed 10th Standard in 1985) and joined Union Christian College, Aluva (pre-degree, 3rd group, 1985–1987) and pursued degree in History from Ernakulam Maharaja's College. Dileep started to take mimicry seriously at Maharaja's. Dileep rendered his voice in Onam-based comic albums "De Maveli Kombathu", with his friends Nadirshah and Abi.

Personal life

Dileep married actress Manju Warrier on 20 October 1998. The couple has one daughter, Meenakshi (born in 2000). In July 2014, Dileep filed for divorce which was granted on 31 January 2015. Dileep married actress Kavya Madhavan on 25 November 2016 at Vedanta Hotel, Kochi. However, Manorama News reported on 3 August 2017 that Dileep had married another woman, who is his distant relative, before his wedding to Manju Warrier. The police found that the wedding was officially recorded at a registrar office in Aluva and efforts are being made to retrieve the records. As per records, they have not been officially divorced.

1991–2000

Dileep started his career at Kalabhavan, working as a mimicry artist. He also performed in Asianet's comedy show Comicola. Later he got a chance to be the assistant director to Kamal. While being an assistant director, Dileep did some small roles, debuting with just a small scene in Kamal's Ennodu Ishtam Koodamo (1992). Kamal recommended his name to many directors. The film Manathe Kottaram (1994), directed by Sunil, gave him the first break and his screen name Dileep came into place through the character of the same name that he played. Other minor roles during this time included Joshi's Sainyam (1993), Sibi Malayil's Sindoora Rekha (1995), Viji Thampi's Pidakozhi Koovunna Nootand (1994), Kamal's Ulladakkam (1993) and Sudhinam (1994),Thooval Kottaram (1996), Swapna Lokathe Balabhaskaran (1996), Ee Puzhayum Kadannu in 1996. Sallapam (1996) gave him the much-needed break and he became a recognizable figure in the movie industry. He played a supporting role in I. V. Sasi's Varnapakittu in 1997.Punjabi House (1998) was a major success for the actor and it saw the beginning of the popular Dileep-Harishri Asokan combo. His other films Meenathil Thalikettu (1998) and Chandranudikkunna Dikhil (1999) also fared well.

2000s

Dileep started the millennium with hits like Mister Butler (2000) and Darling Darling (2000). He played a supporting role in the blockbusterThenkasipattanam (2000). He ended the year with Joker (2000). The movie depicting the hardship of circus artists was a critical and commercial success.Ee Parakkum Thalika (2001) was also a major success.Ishtam (2001), Mazhathullikkilukkam (2002) were above average grosses. He ended the year with Kunjikoonan (2002). He won the Kerala State Film Special Jury Award for playing Kunjan in Kunjikoonan. The movie was also a considerable box-office success. With Lal Jose's Meesa Madhavan (2002) Dileep turned an overnight superstar. He played to perfection the role of the thief Madhavan. The movie was the year's highest grosser and his chemistry with Kavya Madhavan was wooed. The movie's music was composed by Vidyasagar and the movie achieved cult status in the state. Kalyanaraman (2003), Jayaraj's Thilakkam (2003), and Johny Antony's C.I.D. Moosa (2003) (which he produced himself) continued the actor's dream box office run. He also produced and starred in T. V. Chandran's Kadhavaseshan (2004). In 2004, he starred in Priyadarshan's Vettam. Despite the initial hype, the movie tanked at the box-office. Chanthupottu (2005) saw his reunion with Lal Jose. The movie was commercially and critically well received. He also won the Special Jury Award at the Kerala State Film Awards for his performance in the movie.. He ventured into action with Joshy's Runway (2004). The movie broke several box-office records and gave Dileep the tag of Popular Actor. Kochirajavu (2005) his next release was an above average grosser. Lion (2006) a political thriller was another blockbuster for the actor. His next releases were Chess (2006) and Don (2006). The former was a below average grosser while the Shaji Kailas directed Don despite its huge initial pull bombed at the box-office. He played the athlete Arjun in Speed Track, the debut of director Jayasurya. His second film with the director Sathyan Anthikad, Vinodayathra, was released in April 2007. The movie gave Dileep his first success after several duds. He appeared in Blessy's Calcutta News (2008). The movie failed critically and commercially. In 2006 he lent his voice to the dumb character played by Shahid Kapoor in Priyadarshan's Hindi film Chup Chup Ke. Story of the 2006 movie Pachakuthira was written by Dileep.

Dileep produced Joshiy's Twenty:20 (2008). In 2009, his films included Crazy Gopalan, Moz & Cat directed by director Fazil. The former under performed at the box office while the latter bombed. Passenger. The movie was a sleeper hit and the actor's performance was well received. He ended the decade with critically acclaimed Swantham Lekhakan which saw him team up with Gopika after the super hit Chanthupottu.

2010s

In the beginning of the 2010s, Dileep starred in Bodyguard directed by Siddique. The film was a moderate success while its remakes Kaavalan starring Vijay and Bodyguard starring Salman Khan became huge hits. The latter also reached the coveted 1,000,000,000 mark. Aagathan and Paappi Appacha were his next films. The former under performed while the latter fared well at the box office. His production venture Malarvaadi Arts Club was directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan which was also the debut vehicle of Nivin Pauly. The Hindi movie Toofan was released in 2010, which is a children's film, directed by Major Ravi. In 2010, he also starred in his 100th movieKaaryasthan. Despite mixed reports from critics, the movie was a blockbuster. In 2011, he starred in Marykkundoru Kunjaadu was a mega hit. He also appeared in multi starrer Christian Brothers and China Town. Both went on to become huge hits. In 2011, he also starred in Orma Mathram, The Filmstaar and Vellaripravinte Changathi for which he won a Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.

His first release in 2012 was Spanish Masala directed by Lal Jose. The movie under performed at the box office. His next movie in 2012 Mayamohini swept the box office by storm, it went on to become one of the highest grosser in the history of Mollywood. With Mr. Marumakan and My Boss he continued his dream box office run. His first release in 2013 was the multi starer Proprietors: Kammath & Kammath. Despite poor reviews, the star power of the leads (another being Mammootty) the movie became a big hit. He played the lead role in Vysakh's Sound Thoma and later starred in Sringaravelan. Both fared well at the box office once again proving Janapriyanayakan Dileep's stronghold as the box office king. Nadodimannan and Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal failed considerably at the box office despite huge initial pull. In 2014 was he appeared in another hit Raffi's Ring Master that grossed over 100,000,000. He also appeared in Avatharam and Villali Veeran. The former was an above average grosser while the latter flopped. In 2015 he starred in Ivan Maryadaraman, the official remake of Son of Sardar. The producers recovered its costs within the first week of the release but failed to become a hit. He followed it up with Chandrettan Evideya . The movie was critically and commercially successful. He also did a guest appearance in a song in Kannada star Shivrajkumar 's Vajrakaya. He was last seen playing the title character in Jeethu Joseph's Life of Josutty. Despite their previous collaboration My Boss was a huge blockbuster, this movie becomes an above average grosser. "Two Countries" released on Christmas 2015 directed by Shafi became one of the biggest blockbuster hit in Dileep's career and the film received mostly positive review all over and became the highest-grossing film in his career. Two countries enters 50,000,000 and currently next to "Drishyam", "Pulimurugan", "oppam" and "Premam". In 2016 his first film was "King Liar" that entered the 20,000,000. Later he starred in Welcome to central jail a commercial hit and Pinneyum. His last movie Georgettans Pooram was an average hit. upcoming movies are "Professor Dingan" and Ramleela.

Background

Dileep and Nadirshah were initially questioned by the Kerala Police for 13 hours and subsequently for ten hours in connection with an abduction and sexual assault of a popular Indian actress on 17 February 2017. The actress was kidnapped and then molested while traveling for work.

According to the FIR, a seven member gang molested the actress who was travelling on the national highway in Nedumbassery around 10 pm. During the journey, her driver Martin had sent several messages to someone. Based on his direction, a gang followed the actress in a Force Motors traveller van, hit her car deliberately and created an argument with Martin. In the meantime, two of the gang members forcefully entered into the car and forced Martin to drive the car as per their direction. The second and the third accused parties barged into the car and forcefully covered the actress's mouth with their palms. Threatening and asking the actress not to shout, the accused grabbed her mobile phone from the actress. During the journey, the third accused (not named in the FIR) got down from the car. The fourth accused then entered the car and helped the others overpower the actress before stepping down. The fifth and sixth accused persons joined the abduction team on the way. They diverted their route and entered a house with a grilled gate. From that juncture, the prime accused Sunil Kumar a.k.a "Pulsar Suni", entered the car with a towel covering his face and took over the driver’s seat. Martin, who had driven the car till then, left the gang and moved into the van which was following the car whole the time. Pulsar Suni then drove the car to Kakkanad area where he molested the actress. He told the actress that he was entrusted with the task of "shooting her compromising pictures and videos" and wanted the actress to cooperate. The police says the gang molested the actress for almost two-and-half hours inside the moving vehicle.

The actress finally took refuge at actor Lal's house and informed the police. The gang escaped in the van but later arrested by the police. The police registered an FIR with sections of rape, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and relevant sections of the IT Act. The police said the victim's medical examination has confirmed rape. The actress says that she is contemplating suing Dileep after he alleged that the actress was 'good friends with the accused Pulsar Suni'. The Kerala women's commission later registered a case against Dileep and three others regarding the derogatory comments against the actress.

Case investigation

Dileep and his close friends have been accused of masterminding the attack. The investigation suggests that the prime accused Sunil Kumar had contacted Dileep’s manager Appunni, whose anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the high court, through various mobile numbers several times between November 2016 and February 2017. The police received information that Pulsar Suni visited Dileep at five different specified places, including the shooting locations of Dileep where the conspiracy was hatched. The photos of him standing near Dileep a few days before the attack is also received. Pulsar Suni again supposed to have written a letter from jail addressed to Dileep, dated 12 April 2017. The police took detailed statements of Dileep and Nadirshah but did not give any clean chits to them since the case is under investigation. Dileep had earlier filed a police complaint against Pulsar Suni for the alleged attempt to extort ₹15,000,000 from Dileep. But the police says that the blackmail complaint made by Dileep is fake. Dileep had failed in establishing on how, when, and where he was blackmailed.

The police searched an online dress showroom called "Laksyah" owned by Dileep's present wife Kavya Madhavan in search of a memory card in connection with the case investigation. The CCTV visuals from a nearby shop shows that after committing the crime, the arrested driver had visited the boutique ‘Laksyah’. On 25 July 2017, Kavya Madhavan was questioned by a special investigation team from kerala police for six hours probing the case. The police also questioned singer Rimi Tomy and actor Siddique, both close friends of Dileep and his wife Kavya Madhavan, as part of the ongoing investigation. The police says the mobile phone that used to record the visuals is yet to find but they retrieved a mobile phone's memory card contains the copy of the recordings and a SIM card from the culprits.

Arrest and bail refusal

The police took Dileep in custody on 10 July 2017 morning and registered his arrest by the same day evening by imposing IPC Section 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy. Dileep was sent to the sub-jail and remanded for 14 days. The arrest was on the basis of 19 pieces of evidence proving his involvement in the conspiracy. Dileep was later taken to three locations for collecting evidence in the case.

On 15 July 2017, a magistrate court denied bail to Dileep and remanded him until 25 July 2017, he has been sent to the sub-jail. The prosecution objected to providing the victim's confidential statement to the defense side as it would affect the case and a threat to the victim's safety. The prosecution also argued that the evidence collected in the case are more shocking than that of the Nirbhaya gang rape case, one of the brutal rape cases in the Indian history.

On 17 July 2017, Dileep moved a bail application in the High Court of Kerala, the high court dismissed the bail plea on 24 July 2017. The prosecution argued at the high court that "it was for the first time in the history of criminal law a quotation had been given for committing rape. Dileep's name will be written in the history books if he is convicted in the case as his act is a rare incident." The high court judge said that there is prima facie materials to suspect the involvement of Dileep in the crime. "The case is unique, considering its seriousness, meticulous planning, cruel nature of execution and being a crime executed to wreak vengeance on a woman by engaging criminals, to sexually abuse her".

On 29 August 2017, the high court again dismissed the bail plea of Dileep for the second time. The court said there is a possibility of witnesses being influenced if bail is granted.The prosecution submitted a sealed cover containing 219 fresh pieces of evidence against Dileep to the court.

The 'quotation' and reason

Dileep is accused of hiring a 'quotation' gang to attack the actress and record the visuals to settle personal vendetta over family matters. Dileep had married Manju Warrier and a child was born from that relation. Subsequently, matrimonial disputes arose in their family, ultimately leading to a divorce. Dileep suspected that, the victim-actress, who was a close friend of Manju Warrier, was instrumental in the disruption of his matrimonial life. It is reported that during a stage show rehearsal, the victim-actress found Dileep's affair with his present wife Kavya Madhavan. The victim-actress had revealed it to Manju Warrier, ultimately resulted in a divorce, much against Dileep's wishes. To wreak vengeance, Dileep allegedly conspired with Pulsar Suni, who used to get associated with film production units and had a criminal track record, to abduct the victim and to take her nude videos. On the quotation, Dileep insisted that the nude videos should clearly show the actress's smiling face and the engagement ring on her finger. It is alleged that Dileep agreed to pay ₹ 15,000,000 (USD 230,000) for the quotation and handed over ₹ 10,000 as advance to Pulsar Suni. The gang made failed attempts to attack the actress on two occasions since 2013 but only succeeded in February 2017.

During an interview in late-2015, the victim-actress says that the troubles started when she helped a close friend (Manju Warrier) over some family problems. She also alleged that an unofficial ban against her in the cinema industry. While she has not named anyone, it is widely believed that Dileep was the cause of the victim-actress's ban. However, it is noted that the victim-actress was once a close friend of Dileep and paired with him in several hit movies.

It is reported that Pulsar Suni had attacked another Malayalam actress back in 2012. But the case was not investigated since there was no official complaint lodged by the victim. Dileep, who was aware of this had instructed Suni to assemble a "capable and experienced" team for the quotation of the February 2017 actress attack. The 2012 case has now re-opened by the police.

Other allegations

Another allegation made upon Dileep linked to actor Kalabhavan Mani's death. The late actor's family alleged that they suspect Dileep's involvement in Mani's death. The police and enforcement directorate say that they are also investigating into Dileep's financial, real estate, theatre deals and other business dealings, after they have found several discrepancies in his statements. It is estimated that Dileep and relatives has real estate assets worth over ₹ 600,000,000 (USD 100 million). The state land board found that Dileep has violated the land reforms act. Dileep and family owned about 21.67 acres across five districts in the state. As per the law, one family is allowed to own only 15 acres of land.

It is alleged that Dileep had built 'D Cinemaas', a hotel and theater complex equipped with the latest 3D and 3k projection technology, in a controversial government land by fabricating documents by the help of government officials, the vigilance court ordered a probe into the allegations. The officials collected evidence of benami investments of several people in the business, some with middle-east links. Although the survey department recently found the land has not been encroached, the municipal council of Chalakkudi issued a notice to shutdown 'D Cinemaas'. However, on 9 August 2017, the high court has given permission to open the theatre. Environmental activists in Kumarakom allege that Dileep sent a criminal gang to protect a piece of government land he illegally claimed and later sold it while high court was looking into the matter, the revenue minister had instructed the officials to conduct an inquiry into the matter. The police referred to the court that a paid public relation campaign in the social media with the intention of creating a sympathy for Dileep and secure his release.

During an interview, the late actor Thilakan says about Dileep as a "powerful poisonous person" and his enemy. Thilakan believed that Dileep was against him getting opportunities in the movies. Director Vinayan said that Dileep is a "master manipulator and Mohanlal and Mammootty have been puppets in his hands". Vinayan also alleged that Dileep has corrupted the Malayalam film industry under his "organised mafia" as the latter was rose into such a power to control over the Malayalam cinema. Liberty Basheer, Film producer and former Kerala film exhibitors federation president said that Dileep had been plotting bigger conspiracies than the February 17 attack, targeted stars including Geetu Mohandas and Samyuktha Varma who are lucky to be saved.

Aftermath

The executive committee meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and The Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK), expelled Dileep with immediate effect following his arrest. The business firms owned by Dileep faced the anger by leading youth political parties after the actor was arrested. The activists destroyed the actor's 'Dhe Puttu' restaurant and took out a protest march into 'D cinemaas'. The protesters burned Dileep’s effigy and raised slogans against the actor. The release date of Dileep's big-budget film Ramaleela, which was supposed to be released on 21 July 2017, has been postponed in view of the current events. It is reported that the arrest of Dileep had caused Malayalam cinema industry a loss of ₹ 50–60,000,000 and also affected some of the actor's half way through projects including Kammara Sambhavam, which is reportedly being made on a budget of ₹ 20,000,000 (USD 3 Million). Besides keeping a star-value right behind superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty, Dileep is considered to be a pointer to the influence he commanded in the industry and had positioned himself in all areas of Malayalam cinema, including production and distribution.

Assistant Director

Producer

Television

Awards