Hema Commission report criticizes Malayalam-language film industry

A groundbreaking report on the issues faced by women in the Malayalam-language film industry has exposed the deep decline in one of India’s most popular film hubs.

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

The 290-page report – parts of which have been redacted to hide the identities of survivors and those accused of misconduct – says the industry is dominated by “a mafia of powerful men” and that “sexual harassment of women is widespread”.

The Hema committee, headed by a former judge of the Kerala High Court, was formed by the state government in 2017. The committee describes the poor working conditions on the sets, including a lack of toilets and dressing rooms for young artists, no food and water for them, poor pay and no accommodation or transport facilities.

“There are no toilets, so women have to go into the bushes or behind thick trees. During their menstruation, because they cannot change their sanitary towels for hours and have to hold their urine for a long time, it causes physical discomfort and makes them sick, in some cases they even have to be hospitalized,” it says.

The report, which was submitted to the government in December 2019, was only made public this week, after nearly five years of delays and multiple legal challenges by members of the film industry.

The panel was formed after the horrific sexual assault of a leading actress in the film industry. Bhavana Menon, who has worked in over 80 films in South Indian languages ​​and won a number of prestigious awards, was attacked by a group of men in February 2017 while she was travelling from Thrissur to Kochi.

Her attack made headlines, especially after Dileep, one of the biggest actors in the Malayalam-language film industry and Menon’s co-star in half a dozen films, was named as an accused and charged with criminal conspiracy. He denied the charges but was arrested and held for three months before being released on bail. The case is still pending in court.

Indian law prohibits the identification of survivors of sexual abuse, but it was known from the beginning that it was Ms. Menon who had been abused. In 2022, she waived her anonymity in an Instagram post and in a interview with the BBC.

A few months after the attack on Ms. Menon, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) – a group formed by some of her peers in an industry known for its variety of successful mainstream and critically acclaimed films – filed a petition with the government, asking for swift action in the case and to address the issues faced by women in the industry.

In the report, retired judge K Hema says the WCC told her that “women are being silenced because the reputation of the film industry must be upheld”.

The panel interviewed dozens of men and women, including artists, producers, directors, screenwriters, cameramen, hair stylists, make-up artists and costume designers, and “collected evidence, including video and audio clips and WhatsApp messages”.

The report describes sexual harassment as the ‘worst evil’ faced by women in cinema. The panel saw evidence that ‘sexual harassment remains shockingly widespread’ and ‘continues unchecked and uncontrolled’.

The industry “is controlled by a group of male actors, producers, distributors, exhibitors and directors who have acquired enormous fame and wealth” and were among the perpetrators, it added.

“Men in the industry openly make demands for sex without any scruples as if it were their birthright. Women have few options but to comply – or refuse at the cost of their long-awaited dream of pursuing cinema as their profession.

“The experiences of many women are truly shocking and so serious that they have not even shared the details with their closest relatives.”

Many of the people approached by the panel were initially reluctant to speak because they were “afraid of losing their jobs”.

“At first we found their fear strange, but as our investigation progressed we realized it was justified. We are concerned for their safety and that of their immediate family members.”

The report, the WCC says, has confirmed its position. “For years we have said there is a systemic problem in the industry. Sexual harassment is just one of them. This report proves it,” Beena Paul, an award-winning editor and one of the founders of the WCC, told the BBC.

“We were always told that we were troublemakers (for raising such issues). This report proves that it (the situation) is much worse than we thought,” she said.

Members of the WCC say they have had difficulty finding work since they began demanding better working conditions on film sets. “People don’t like us asking questions. So, quite a few members have had to deal with difficult situations,” says Ms. Paul.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), a apex body in the industry that counts superstars like Mohanlal and Mamooty among its members, denied the allegations. Its secretary general Siddique disagreed that there was a small, powerful group controlling the industry.

He also denied that sexual harassment was widespread in the industry and said that most of the complaints they received were about the delay or lack of payment for workers. He said that the conditions for women on film sets had improved in the last five years and that all facilities were now available to them.

In the week since the report was published, the state has been in turmoil, with activists and leading opposition leaders demanding action against those accused of wrongdoing.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said if any woman who testified before the commission came forward to file a complaint, the government would take action. “No matter how big they are, they will be brought to justice,” he said.

A public interest petition was filed in the Kerala High Court on Thursday, seeking initiation of criminal proceedings against the accused named in the report.

The court ordered the government to submit a copy of the report and the judges said that after reading the report, they would decide whether to take criminal action.

Allegations of harassment and abuse in films are not new in India: In 2018, the #MeToo movement hit the country’s most popular film industry, Bollywood, after actress Tanushree Dutta accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of behaving inappropriately towards her on a film set in 2008. Patekar has denied the allegations.

Ms Dutta, who has since claimed she has been denied employment, described the Hema committee report as “useless”, adding that previous reports on making workplaces safer for women had not helped.

Parvathy Thirutothu, an award-winning actress and a senior member of the WCC, told news channel Asianet that she viewed the publication of the report as “a victory”.

“It has opened the door for huge changes within the industry,” she said.

Jeo Baby, director of The Great Indian Kitchen, a critically acclaimed film that explores the patriarchal structure within the family, told the BBC that while gender issues remain a concern, change is happening in the industry. “This is the right time to correct this. The film industry needs to fight this together.”

The report, which makes several recommendations to make the industry a safe place for women, states that the research and recommendations are not intended to find fault with individuals, but “a genuine attempt to ennoble a profession so that it becomes a viable career option for aspiring artists and technicians, both men and women”.

“Hopefully, filmmaking will become so safe that parents can send their daughters and sons into the field with the same confidence and sense of security with which they send their children to an engineering firm or a college,” it adds.