B Unnikrishnan raps Justice Hema Committee. This is why

B Unnikrishnan criticises Justice Hema Committee for not consulting organisations other than WCC. (Supplied)

“The commission did not even meet the general secretaries of FEFKA unions. The names mentioned in the Justice K Hema commission report, including that of the alleged ‘power group’ of 15 members, should be made public,” Unnikrishnan demanded.

He further claimed that the claims of a “power group” and “mafia” are fabrications by some witnesses and are not feasible within the film industry.

Also read: Kerala HC slams state for failing to act on Hema commission report for five years

‘No current issues’

B Unnikrishnan denied that there were any issues with the casting process, “the audition process for the film is managed by the organisations.” He noted that two complaints of sexual harassment had been received and resolved.

Speaking to the media, B Unnikrishnan also announced that the FEFKA statutes have been amended. The age limit for make-up artists has been raised to 35 years and the percentage of women has been increased to 20 percent.

B Unnikrishnan refuted the claims that female actors, especially the WCC members, were getting less work and cited examples of Parvathy Thiruvothu and Rima Kallingal.

“Parvathy acted in 11 films before the formation of WCC, and she acted in 11 films after WCC was formed. She was not available when a few directors approached her for their projects.”

Unnikrishnan added: “Rima Kallingal has acted in a film directed by Sajin Babu, a member of the FEFKA directors’ union.”

Resigns from film policy committee

In another shocking move, B Unnikrishnan announced that he had resigned from the film policy committee set up by the state government.

B Unnikrishnan said that he had submitted his resignation to the Department of Culture on September 8. The news of his resignation came after director Vinayan had removed him from the panel for his alleged unethical practices in the field of cinema.

On Thursday, September 12, Vinayan approached the Kerala High Court challenging the inclusion of Unnikrishnan in the panel, claiming it was against the neutrality of the panel.

Unnikrishnan, however, said he had submitted the resignation letter, requesting the government to remove him from the panel, on September 8, the day the panel last met.

‘Don’t destroy Malayalam cinema’: Mohanlal on Hema committee report

WCC meets Kerala Chief Minister

Meanwhile, the WCC members recently met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and asked the government to protect the privacy of the women who gave statements. “The confidentiality of their statements is very important.”

“We have explored the possibility of arranging legal assistance and guidance to support the women who testified at the Hema Commission,” WCC said.

“We then discussed the need to improve the implementation of the Internal Committee (IC) under the POSH Act both practically and qualitatively. WCC also pointed out the possibility of involving the Department of Women and Child Welfare in IC-related issues in cinemas, as in other workplaces, and the need to reorganise the IC Monitoring Committee in such a way that it gets serious attention from the government, and the need to create adequate awareness about the IC,” WCC said in their social media post.

“We have requested that the suggestions of the Hema committee be included in the film policy. A copy of the proposals that the WCC has drawn up for inclusion in the Cinema Policy at the request of the Ministry of Culture in 2021 has been enclosed with the letter. We have emphasized that there must be an equal space for the views and ideas of women in policy-making,” the report said.

(Edited by Sumavarsha)

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