Kerala CM says no to Mohanlal's refund offer

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 4: Putting an end to all speculations, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Wednesday said the state government has no moral right to accept the money that they gave to superstar Mohanlal. Mohanlal was paid for his musical band's performance at the opening ceremony of the 35th National Games, held here last week. "There is an agreement that the government has entered into with Mohanlal for the conduct of his programme. Even if he says that he will return the money, the Kerala government has no moral right to take back the money," said Chandy. Since the conduct of the event, which incidentally was the debut performance of Mohanlal's newly-formed musical band Lalisom, both the superstar and the government have come in for much criticism over the poor quality of the programme. Snubbed by a massive social media outcry targeting Mohanlal, the film star went into a shell and, in an email to Kerala Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, said he will return the Rs.1.63 crore that he had taken towards expenses incurred -- he pointed out that he did not charge any fee for his appearance.