How a censored report released after five years created a ‘WeToo’ wave in Malayalam cinema

Small earthquakes lead to big explosions; Pandemonium breaks out

What started as small ripples led to a big explosion. A good five days later chaos ensued, and that too on the day that AMMA chose to publicly respond to the Hema report.

A Bengali actress accused senior director-actor and chairman of State Chalachithra Academy, Ranjithof sexual misconduct while auditioning for his 2009 film Paleri ManikyamAfter hesitating for a day and the left-wing leadership clearly distancing itself from him, he decided to resign.

A double dhamaka followed when senior actor and AMMA General Secretary Siddique also decided to resign after a young actress accused him of sexual abuse — an accusation she made public in 2019 about a 2016 incident. As the industry grappled with the two high-profile firings, a flood of revelations opened up, similar to the MeToo movement in Hollywood.

A whole host of actors and filmmakers, including actors turned politicians M Mukesh, Jayasurya, Maniyampilla Raju, BaburajEdavela Babu, Sudheesh, VK Prakash and Sreekumar Menon came under the shadow of suspicion after allegations of misconduct were levelled against them. Within hours, a series of young artists and actresses had come forward with a series of allegations of sexual violations and exploitation. Moreover, on August 27, the entire AMMA board led by its president, veteran actor Mohanlal, dramatically resigned.

Different voices in actor’s outfit

The mass resignation of the powerful actors’ body came after a series of open revolts erupted in public. The resentment within the organisation was palpable after some senior actors, including the vice-chairman and senior character actor Jagadeesh, openly rejected the organisation’s official position and called for an immediate investigation into all allegations.

If an actress had made a statement that someone had been knocking on her room door continuously at night with bad intentions, it should be investigated, said Jagadeeshreferring to comments in the Hema report about a persistent problem cited by many actresses: the dreaded knocking on doors at night.

Close behind him was superstar Prithviraj who openly admitted to AMMA’s mistakes and demanded action based on the Hema report. Popular actor Tovino Thomas also voiced his opinion that he wanted to investigate complaints.

A confused government – ​​the political side!

The whole Hema report fiasco in fact exposes the kind of confusion within the government when it comes to dealing with sexual crimes of such a high profile nature. The CPM-led government, which has a strong zero tolerance stance towards anti-women crimes, is finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the aftermath of the Hema report.

While demands came from various quarters to initiate legal action against the named individuals, the government chose to insist that it cannot be done unless the aggrieved party comes forward and files fresh complaints, setting the stage for a political fight. The chaotic mess that followed forced the Kerala High Court to intervene, asking how the authorities could ignore the recommendations!

The government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe all the revelations that kept coming out. Ironically, the carefully worded statement made no mention of the Hema panel and its contents. The SIT got to work immediately when a few artistes approached the team with complaints, including one against actor and CPM MLA M Mukesh. With persistent calls, even from the Left, for Mukesh’s resignation, the CPM, as usual, chose to drag its feet on the entire issue.