The Hema committee report slams Malayalam-language movie trade

A landmark report into issues confronted by girls within the Malayalam-language movie trade has revealed the deep rot in one among India’s hottest movie hubs.

The findings of the three-member panel are fairly damning.

The 290-page report – elements of which have been redacted to cover identities of survivors and people accused of wrongdoing – says the trade is dominated by “a mafia of highly effective males” and that “sexual harassment of ladies is rampant”.

Headed by a former decide of the Kerala Excessive Courtroom and arrange by the state authorities in 2017, the Hema committee particulars the abysmal working circumstances on units – together with a scarcity of bathrooms and altering rooms for junior artists, no meals and water for them, poor pay and no lodging or transport services.

“There are not any bathrooms, so girls should go within the bushes or behind thick bushes. Throughout their intervals, not with the ability to change their sanitary napkins for lengthy hours and holding urine for lengthy causes bodily discomfort and makes them sick, in some instances needing hospitalisation,” it says.

The report, which was submitted to the federal government in December 2019, was made public solely this week after almost 5 years of delay and a number of authorized challenges by members of the movie trade.

The panel was arrange within the aftermath of the horrific sexual assault on a number one actress within the movie trade. Bhavana Menon, who has labored in additional than 80 movies in southern Indian languages and received quite a lot of prestigious awards, was assaulted by a gaggle of males whereas travelling from Thrissur to Kochi in February 2017.

Her assault made headlines, particularly after Dileep, one of many Malayalam-language movie trade’s greatest actors and Menon’s co-star in half a dozen movies, was named as an accused and charged with legal conspiracy. He denied the fees, however was arrested and held in custody for 3 months earlier than being launched on bail. The case continues to be heard in court docket.

Indian legislation bars identification of survivors of sexual assault, but it surely was identified from the beginning that it was Ms Menon who had been assaulted. In 2022, she waived her anonymity in a publish on Instagram and in an interview to the BBC.

A number of months after the assault on Ms Menon, Girls in Cinema Collective (WCC) – a group fashioned by a few of her colleagues in a movie trade identified for its number of profitable mainstream and critically acclaimed movies – petitioned the federal government, looking for swift motion within the case and in addition to handle the issues confronted by girls in cinema.

Within the report, retired Justice Ok Hema says the WCC informed her that “girls are being silenced because the status of the movie trade must be upheld”.

The panel interviewed a number of dozen women and men, together with artists, producers, administrators, scriptwriters, cinematographers, hairstylists, make-up artists and costume designers, and “gathered proof together with video and audio clips and WhatsApp messages”.

Describing sexual harassment because the “worst evil” girls in cinema face, the report stated the panellists noticed proof that “sexual harassment stays shockingly rampant” and that “it goes on unchecked and uncontrolled”.

The trade “is managed by a gaggle of male actors, producers, distributors, exhibitors and administrators who’ve gained monumental fame and wealth” and so they had been among the many perpetrators, it added.

“Males in trade make open calls for for intercourse with none qualms as if it’s their birthright. Girls are left with little or no choices however to oblige – or reject at the price of their lengthy awaited dream of pursuing cinema as their occupation.

“The experiences of many ladies are actually stunning and of such gravity that they haven’t disclosed the main points even to their shut members of the family.”

Most of the individuals the panel approached had been initially reluctant to talk as a result of “they had been afraid they might lose their jobs”.

“To start with, we discovered their worry unusual however as our examine progressed we realised it was well-founded. We’re involved about their and their shut family’ security.”

The report, the WCC says, has vindicated its stand. “For years, we’ve been saying that there’s a systemic downside within the trade. Sexual harassment is only one of them. This report proves it,” Beena Paul, an award-winning editor and one of many founding members of the WCC, informed the BBC.

“We had been at all times informed that we had been troublemakers [for raising such issues]. This report proves that it [the condition] is way worse than what even we thought,” she stated.

Members of the WCC say they’ve confronted problem in getting work since they started demanding higher working circumstances on movie units. “Individuals don’t like the truth that we’re asking questions. So, fairly a couple of members have confronted troublesome conditions,” Ms Paul says.

The Affiliation of Malayalam Film Artists (AMMA), a prime trade physique which counts superstars like Mohanlal and Mamooty amongst its members, denied the accusations. Its common secretary Siddique disagreed that there was a small, highly effective group that managed the trade.

He additionally denied that sexual harassment was rampant within the trade and stated that a lot of the complaints they acquired had been in regards to the delay or a scarcity of fee for staff. He stated circumstances for ladies had improved on movie units prior to now 5 years and all services had been now obtainable to them.

Within the week since its launch, the report has created ripples within the state, with activists and outstanding opposition leaders demanding motion in opposition to these accused of wrongdoing.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated if any girl who testified earlier than the committee got here ahead to file a grievance, the federal government would take motion. “Regardless of how massive they’re, they are going to be introduced earlier than the legislation,” he stated.

On Thursday, a public curiosity petition was filed within the Kerala Excessive Courtroom, looking for initiation of legal proceedings in opposition to these accused within the report.

The court docket ordered the federal government to submit a duplicate of the report and the judges stated they might determine if legal motion wanted to be taken as soon as that they had learn it.

Allegations of harassment and abuse in movies usually are not new in India – in 2018, the #MeToo motion hit the nation’s hottest movie trade Bollywood after actress Tanushree Dutta accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of behaving inappropriately in direction of her on a movie set in 2008. Patekar denied the allegations.

Ms Dutta, who has since claimed that she has been denied work, described the Hema committee report as “ineffective”, including that earlier reviews about making workplaces safer for ladies had not helped.

Parvathy Thiruvothu, an award-winning actress and a key member of the WCC, nonetheless, informed Asianet information channel that she thought-about the discharge of the report “a victory”.

“It’s opened up a door for large adjustments inside the trade,” she stated.

Jeo Child, director of The Nice Indian Kitchen, a critically-acclaimed movie that examines the patriarchal construction inside the household, informed the BBC that whereas gender points stay a priority, change is beneath method within the trade. “That is the correct time to right this. The movie trade has to struggle this collectively.”

The report, which has made a number of suggestions to make the trade a protected place for ladies, says their inquiry and proposals are to not discover fault with any particular person, however “an earnest try and ennoble a occupation in order that it turns into a viable profession choice for aspiring artists and technicians, each female and male”.

“Hopefully filmmaking will turn out to be so protected that folks can ship their daughters and sons to the occupation with the identical confidence and sense of safety as they ship their kids to an engineering agency or a school,” it provides.