Despite facing protests from many quarters, the Kerala government has extended an invite to actor Mohanlal to be the chief guest at the annual state film awards ceremony. As per reports, the actor has accepted the invitation.

State Culture and Cinema Minister AK Balan, on behalf of the Kerala government, officially extended the invite which was accepted by the Malayalam superstar. The award ceremony will take place on August 8 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Balan and the state government got into high gear after half a dozen film centric organisations expressed their anger about an actor being called as the chief guest of the event.

However, director Biju had said that his protest was not particularly about the actor. He said, “The statement which we had released regarding the State Awards distribution did not mention any names. Our stand is that other than the CM and the awardees, any other chief guest is inappropriate. It also reduces their achievement. We have not mentioned any actor in the statement. Our stand is the same whoever be the chief guest.”