More youngsters should come into the Malayalam film industry to bring in a breath of fresh air, Veteran actor Sreenivasan said Wednesday.

"New themes, new people should come into this industry," he told reporters here after a preview of the film 'Atmakatha', by debut director

Prem Lal which will be screened in theatres in Kerala on Aug 20.

Sreenivasan essays the role of a blind father in the film.

Bengali actress Sharbani Mukherjee and Jagaty Sreekumar are among the other actors.

"Producers without artistic taste are the bane of Malayalam cinema. Earlier, there were producers like M O Joseph, T E Vasudevan and Hari Pothen who had very concrete and clear view of films they made," he said.

Malayalam cinema does not have to compete with Tamil and Telugu movies. The Malayalam film industry had not earned appreciation for making big budget movies, but for the aesthetic values it has brought to screen, he said.

The actor added that people are running behind superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal as the satellite rights of their movies are sold at huge rates.

"Even if eight of their films flop on the box office and two succeed, their star value will continue to remain the same," he said in a lighter vein.

No one had imposed any ban on veteran actor Thilakan, he said adding there is no basis for the allegations (against Association of Malayalam Movie Artists--AMMA) being made by him.

"Film-based organisations in Kerala are taking things lightly and that is 'criminal negligence', he said replying to a query.

Those heading these organisations are persons without any films, he added.