‘Malayalam film industry ruled by mafia’: Justice K Hema commission report exposes abuse, casting couch, discrimination against women

In shocking revelations, the Justice K Hema Committee report on the condition of women in the Malayalam film industry, which was finally released on Monday, said that the male-dominated industry is ruled by a “mafia”, which includes some top actors, and that women actors face a gruelling time at work. The committee said its members were in shock after hearing the testimonies. It pointed out that the Internal Complaints Committee for every film has been found to be ineffective and that the state government needs to come up with new ways to ensure that the interests of women in the industry are taken care of. The Kerala High Court had last week given the go-ahead to release the report on the condition that no names would be mentioned in the report and all sensitive information would be redacted. There were some attempts to postpone it on Monday too, but these failed. Mammootty reacts to clash between Malayalam film industry and online critics; Kaathal the Core Star says, ‘Let reviews and cinema take their own path’ (Watch video).

The 289-page report alleged that the “mafia” in the film industry is controlled by a section of directors, producers and male actors and that anyone who complains is sidelined and subjected to untold misery. An actress had testified that she had to take 17 shots with a person who had harassed her and that the director and others were angry because of it. Another actress said that despite numerous requests to the director to tell her about intimate scenes and the details, the director did not inform her and after the shooting was over, she requested the director not to continue with these scenes but her request was rejected and she was threatened that he would even release the scenes in the public domain. The report also revealed that the casting couch is widespread in the film industry and that those who play small roles are the worst affected, especially if they want to be considered for more roles. For new female actors to be considered for roles in films, they have to agree to sleep with those who make the decisions.

It also points out that there is a state where female actors have to come with their family members for fear of being exploited. Moreover, it said that there is a knocking on the bedroom doors of actresses at night and if they don’t open the door, the ‘visitors’ bang on it hard. Another shocking piece of information is that women have to compromise even to get quality food at shooting locations. It also points out that female producers are also at the receiving end of the male-dominated film lobby. In short, the report points out that the glitz of the industry is only on the surface and the ugly side of the male-dominated film industry is covered up underneath. It is also suspected that attempts were made to ensure that this report, which was filed in 2019, took so long to be released and when it finally came out, the names and certain incriminating details were still being withheld. Dan Mavattam Controversy: Yuvan Shankar Raja Denies Music Scoring Claims; Actor-Director RK Suresh Says ‘Check Contract’.

It remains to be seen how the Pinarayi Vijayan government will deal with this report. When the report was released, all members of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), both actors and actresses, were busy with a final rehearsal for a charity performance scheduled to take place near Kochi on Tuesday. In his reaction, AMMA General Secretary and popular actor Siddique said that they have only heard that a report has been released and that they do not have any other details and therefore it is too early to comment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2024 08:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).