The now-controversial title sponsorship agreement signed between the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and the Vennala Thykkattu Sri Mahadeva Temple Trust for AMMA’s family get-together surfaced on Monday (May 25).

The agreement, signed between AMMA general secretary Cuckoo Parameswaran and trust chairman T.G. Nandakumar, the controversial middleman, for ₹75 lakh, was reportedly opposed by then joint secretary Ansiba Hassan on the grounds that it was inappropriate to receive sponsorship from religious institutions. She stepped down from the post since then and hinted at the incident when she came out in the open earlier this week, accusing AMMA executive committee member actor Tiny Tom and a section of members of subjecting her to alleged character assassination and making communal remarks targeting her. Ms. Hassan, however, did not reveal the name of the temple trust.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Mr. Nandakumar said the trust chose to sponsor the event at AMMA’s request. The event was held in February. He added that while the trust was aware of differences of opinion within AMMA over receiving sponsorship from the temple trust, it chose to overlook them since the matter was of little significance to the trust. “We were told that part of the sponsorship would also be used to increase the pension of AMMA members. A major portion of the sponsorship amount remains to be paid,” he said.

Ms. Parameswaran was not available for comment. As per the agreement, an initial payment of ₹30 lakh was to be transferred from the temple’s official account to AMMA’s official account as soon as the agreement was signed. The balance amount of ₹45 lakh was to be paid within three days of the event. Reportedly, this remains unpaid.

Mr. Nandakumar said that though the temple was not entirely satisfied with the publicity provided by AMMA as title sponsor, it chose to abide by the agreement to avoid legal complications.