Finally, after years of rumours and controversy, actor Dileep spoke openly at a press meet about his ongoing divorce with Manju Warrier and the reasons behind it.
It had been the talk of the town for months and Dileep stated that he did not consider himself to be the reason for the failure of their marriage and that he was still upset that they had to separate.
“We led a happy married life for fourteen years until things went south. I had repeatedly made it clear to Manju that I did not want her coming back to the industry.” Says Dileep.
Manju Warrier had been a much adored and critically acclaimed young starlet at the time of their wedding and it came as quite a shock to the fans when the love marriage between the two actors led to her retirement from movies.
After almost a decade and a half of marriage, Manju decided to get back in to the thick of things and the talented dancer gave a dance performance at Guruvayoor and signed on for a role opposite Mohanlal in a Renjith movie ‘G for Gold.’ The hype immediately started as the three artists had formerly collaborated on the movie Aaram Thamburan (1997) which had become an iconic film in Malayalam movie history.
However, the new movie was shelved. Dileep confessed to asking the director to not make Manju a part of the movie. Could this be one of the reasons for the much talked about Manju Warrier comeback movie not coming out? We do not know for sure.
But this did not deter the determined Manju, as she appeared in big budget commercials with the likes of ‘Big B’ Amitabh Bachan and signed on for other feature film projects. This also meant the inevitable separation of the couple and they have been living apart for a year now, with mutual divorce proceedings in motion at the Thrissur Family Court.
They have one daughter, Meenakshi, who seems to have chosen to stand by her father, literally and figuratively.
Dileep’s media confession comes just in time as the buzz surrounding Manju’s real comeback movie ‘How Old Are you?’, directed by Rosshan Andrrews, is building up.
“It is hard to be separated from the person you loved the most. People were jealous of our happiness.” Dileep added.
