Shankar Panicker, is of the strong opinion that it is very much necessary to have fan’s associations to survive in the film industry. The actor, who turned director with ‘Keralotsavam 2009’ seems to take signals from Tamil film world very seriously.

Shankar debuted as a hero in ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’ in the early 80s regrets not heeding to the advice of his friends to have his fans association then. Had he done that he feels he wouldn’t have faded out as an actor. It may be an irony o note Mohanlal who played villain to Shankar in ‘Manjil Virinja Pookal’ went on to become one of the biggest super stars of Malayalam film industry.