Thiruvananthapuram, May 28 (IANS): Veteran Malayalam actor Devan through his Facebook page has slammed his fellow stars for the way they engage in selective criticism.

He was reacting to the manner in which upcoming star Prithviraj and a few others like Rima Kallingal criticised the way the Centre is making changes in the Lakshadweep islands.

Of late in Kerala, there is a big hue and cry from both the political parties and a section of the Malayalam film industry led by Prithviraj who are up in arms ever since the present administrator Praful Patel started making administrative changes there. The islands district collector S. Asker Ali has defended the changes, saying there was nothing untoward in it.

"All what Modi is doing is for the overall development of the island and nothing else. Prithviraj should not forget that and I am sure that he and the fellow stars are doing this purposefully and not unknowingly," said Devan, who recently joined the BJP.

He went on to say that when the shooting of "Anarkali", a film of Prithviraj was stopped by anti-nationals, it was the Modi government who took a strong stand and allowed the shoot. Likewise when he was abroad shooting for a film when the Covid pandemic struck, it was the Modi administration which brought the entire film crew back to the country.

"The film stars have every right to react to situations that happen around us. But, what we see is this very same group who are very selective when it comes to criticism. Just look around in Kerala itself there have been numerous cases like the Walayar rape incident and numerous attacks on women. Where was this group then, as none heard of any reaction from them. See now, they come out in a big way and this is what is called selective criticism. There are some invisible anti-national forces behind them and a probe into this is warranted," said Devan.

He went on to point out how he was a witness when fellow actors like Mammootty and Mohanlal were put under duress by Prithviraj in the actress kidnap case, to oust the accused actor from the actors body of the Malayalam film industry, much against the rules and regulations of it.

"In a case where another actor is presently in jail in Bengaluru in an alleged drug case, none wants to suspend him from the actors body. What happened to Prithviraj, why is he silent. And after that he has woken up now with a campaign 'Save Lakshadweep," added Devan.

Devan said that Modi has not done anything wrong and all what he has done is for the good of its citizens.

"The need of the hour is to react on issues after knowing the facts and not to do otherwise," said Devan.