22-05-2025
Who is Sandra Thomas? Actor-producer claims 'budgets' are allotted for drugs in Malayalam film industry
Amid several claims of rampant drug use in the Malayalam film industry, actress-producer Sandra Thomas alleged that drug abuse has been normalised on film sets. She said that separate rooms and dedicated budgets are being allocated for drugs in the industry now.
In an On Manorama interview, Sandra said, "A special budget is being allotted exclusively for this. Even separate rooms are allotted for this purpose."
She also slammed the industry people for not taking a stand against the situation despite one after another incident.
Sandra Thomas is best known for starring in Malayalam films like Amen, Mimics Parade, O' Faby, Peruchazhi, Aakashvani, Aadu, Kili Poyi and Zachariayude Garbhinikal.
Besides acting, Sandra co-founded the production company Friday Film House, with producer Vijay Babu.
Later, Sandra and Vijay Babu had a fallout and she moved on to establish her own production banner, Sandra Thomas Productions.
She has also backed projects like Zachariayude Garbhinikal and Philips and the Monkey Pen.
Sandra is married to Wilson John Thomas who is a businessman and owner of an event management company. Together they have twin daughters who were born in 2018.
She is quite popular on Instagram. She also has a YouTube channel with 180K subscribers.
Sandra recently made headlines when she opened up about the alleged drug situation in Mollywood.
She said that the industry associations should have taken a 'proper stand' against drug abuse five to ten years ago to avoid the current state of the industry.
She said, 'Everyone was aware of what was happening on sets. But no one took corrective steps, as they needed these people for future projects. Now, a special budget is being allocated exclusively for this. Even separate rooms are allotted for this purpose. However, the associations say the entire industry cannot be blamed just because of one or two people.'
Sandra even called out producer Listin Stephen for not taking a stand. She said people irrespective of their status now indulge in drug use.
She added, 'Aren't people like Listin aware of this problem? Don't they know that drugs are lavishly available and are being used on sets? They have refused to take a step against it. It has now reached the stage where both men and women, and everyone, irrespective of their status, use it. Producers are unwilling to raise a complaint because of the fear that it will stall their projects. If someone is caught on the sets, the shooting gets stalled. It also ruins the goodwill of the actor.'
