Joy Mathew has waded into the AMMA controversy with a response that defends Tini Tom on the communalism charge while simultaneously offering a sharp critique of how the organisation is currently being run. Speaking to Mathrubhumi News, the actor and executive committee member — currently on extended leave from the organisation — was direct on both counts.
On the allegation that Tini Tom called Ansiba Hassan a “jihadi”: “That is utter nonsense. Tini Tom is not that kind of person. He doesn’t even know what his own ‘vargam’ is.” Joy Mathew’s position is that comedians often fire off unfiltered remarks without political awareness — “counter punching to look big, with a lot of apolitical content thrown in” — and that this is a general problem with mimicry artists, not evidence of communal intent. He said he finds it impossible to believe the specific allegation as stated.
Where He Parts Ways With the Defence
Joy Mathew was less generous about AMMA itself. “Things are being handled immaturely in the organisation. There is no discipline — not even at meetings.” His frustration was pointed: the culture inside AMMA, he said, has shifted toward winning arguments rather than resolving issues. “Winning a debate has become the goal. What you actually need is to make people understand.” He added that office-bearers are not addressing problems directly — disputes are playing out through media instead of internal processes or, if warranted, police complaints.
The comparison he drew to an earlier era was blunt. When Mammootty, Mohanlal, and the late Innocent led the organisation, he said, the people on the other side of any debate simply did not need to speak — because the leadership’s decisions were sound enough to stand on their own. That clarity, he implied, is missing now.
Joy Mathew clarified he is currently on long leave from the executive committee. “My interest in the organisation is beginning to fade. I can’t take this.”
The AMMA controversy now has three actors on record — Ansiba with the original allegations, Tini Tom with a denial, and Joy Mathew with a partial defence of Tom combined with institutional criticism that cuts deeper than either of the first two positions.
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