Mumbai, Maharashtra, 29th of January, 2026 : Serious allegations have emerged surrounding the promotional press conference of the Kannada film Korgajja, which was scheduled to take place on January 24 at 8:00 pm at the Grand Ballroom of Holiday Inn, Kochi, followed by a grand dinner meet. It is alleged that the event was adversely affected after a press conference of a Malayalam film starring Mammootty was suddenly announced at the same time.
According to the Korgajja team, invitations for the press meet had been sent to all Kochi-based media houses nearly a week in advance through their PRO. Internationally acclaimed actor Kabir Bedi and senior actress Bhavya—who has played leading roles in nearly 100 South Indian films—had specially travelled to Kochi to attend the event.
However, just a day before the scheduled press meet, Mammootty’s team reportedly announced a press conference for their film Chathapach at the exact same time. The Korgajja team alleges that this was done with full awareness that media representatives would prioritise Mammootty’s event, forcing them to cancel their own press conference. Kabir Bedi and the entire team reportedly found this deeply insulting.
Director Sudhir Attavar and producer Trivikram Sapalya expressed strong displeasure, calling the incident unacceptable and damaging to the image of the Malayalam film industry. They stated that Kabir Bedi, who had come to Kochi specifically for the press meet, felt deeply hurt by the sudden turn of events.
The Korgajja team further claimed that their PR received a phone call around midnight, stating that the Malayalam film team wanted Korgajja’s promotional event to be cancelled or postponed. This came as a shock, especially since lakhs of rupees had already been spent on venue bookings, hospitality, hotel arrangements, and logistics. They were informed that Mammootty’s team had fixed their press conference at the same time, making it difficult for journalists to attend both events.
With Kabir Bedi and other artists already present in Kochi, cancelling the event resulted in heavy financial losses. Despite this, the team felt helpless due to Mammootty’s immense influence and the massive media turnout usually associated with his appearances.
Industry observers pointed out that Kochi is not like larger cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Hyderabad, where media houses have separate journalists for different beats. In smaller cities, one journalist often covers multiple beats, making it an unwritten industry norm to avoid scheduling two major film events at the same time. PROs usually coordinate to prevent such clashes.
The Korgajja team alleges that this long-standing professional courtesy was ignored. They find it hard to believe that a Padma Bhushan awardee like Mammootty would knowingly allow such a situation, leading to disruption of another film’s promotion.
Mammootty is a senior and highly respected actor, known for drawing huge media crowds at his events. Director Sudhir Attavar questioned why coordination with the media or PROs was not done beforehand, especially when Korgajja involves several Malayalam technicians and singers.
Attavar also highlighted that Malayalam films receive extensive promotional support in Bengaluru, with strong backing from Kannada media. Since millions of Kannada audiences watch Malayalam films, he warned that such incidents could unnecessarily create language-based tensions.
Reacting to the controversy, Kabir Bedi said, “I am a great admirer of Malayalam cinema, a language that has won nearly 25% of India’s National Film Awards. I came to Kochi to promote Korgajja out of respect for Malayalam cinema. This incident is extremely unfortunate.”
He added, “It is possible that Mammootty was not personally aware of this, but disrupting a pre-scheduled press meet just a day before is not right. There should have been coordination with the media or the PROs.”
The incident is being widely described as an insult to Kabir Bedi, an internationally renowned actor who had made special arrangements to attend the press meet. The Korgajja team maintains that Mammootty’s team had no right to interfere with their event, particularly when invitations had been issued well in advance.
Senior actress Bhavya also expressed her displeasure, stating that the disrespect shown to a dignified and globally recognised artist like Kabir Bedi was unacceptable.
Producer Trivikram Sapalya said,
“We conducted promotional events across the country. During the audio launch in Mangaluru, more than 100 journalists were present. We received tremendous support everywhere—except in Kochi, where this unfortunate incident took place.”
He added that the rescheduled press interaction at 5:00 pm with limited media presence caused significant damage to the film’s promotion.
Several voices from the industry have condemned the incident, calling it deeply unfortunate and stating that the actions of the Malayalam film team led to the humiliation of an internationally acclaimed actor like Kabir Bedi.
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