Identify the 15-member ‘power group’ mentioned in the Hema Commission report, says FEFKA

The Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) has called for identification of the 15-member ‘power group’ in the Malayalam film industry referred to in the Hema Commission report.

At a press conference here on Thursday, B. Unnikrishnan, general secretary of FEFKA, said the organisation was exploring legal avenues to identify the so-called ‘power group/mafia’. He said the names of all 15 members should be made public even as all other names mentioned in the report were kept secret. It is impossible for such a group to control the entire film industry, he said.

A witness account

“The narrative of such a ‘power group/mafia’ was planted before the commission through a vested interest witness statement. The same narrative has been continued in the discussions on the commission report. Our analysis is that the terms were used as a metaphor and they continue to be so. Whenever someone is faced with a problem in the industry, this metaphor of ‘power group/mafia’ is invoked, though even those raising it have no idea about it,” Mr Unnikrishnan said.

He said that members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) had not been denied work as mentioned in the report. “We have investigated this reference in the report and asked all our 21 affiliated members whether any such directive has been issued from any quarter,” Mr Unnikrishnan said.

About Parvathy Thiruvothu

Citing data compiled by the organisation, he said that Parvathy Thiruvothu, a prominent WCC member, had acted in 11 films from 2006, when she made her debut, to 2018 till the formation of WCC and in an equal number of films after that. “In fact, during our research, it was found that many projects with her did not materialise due to reasons like remuneration and disagreement over scripts. Rima Kallingal, another WCC member, is the lead actress in the upcoming film of Sajin Babu, who is an executive committee member of our directors’ union. How can this happen when FEFKA has decided to keep WCC members out?” Mr Unnikrishnan asked.

He said that a fine by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is seen in the report as a blemish on FEFKA. “We consider a fine by a body constituted under the Competition Act, which considers collective bargaining as the greatest sin, as a badge of honour,” Mr Unnikrishnan said.

He also objected to the reference in the commission report that FEFKA was founded by a single actor. To portray a union with 8,000 members from 21 organisations as subordinate is anti-labour, he said.