We, the women of Telugu cinema

Samantha praised the efforts of the Women in Cinema Collective to raise awareness about sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry by involving a representative from the Hema Commission.

Report of the Hema Commission: Samantha Ruth Prabhu has now praised the work of the Women In Cinema Collective (WCC) and lauded the findings of the Justice Hema Committee. The Hema Committee was formed following the WCC’s petition to the Kerala government following the assault of actor Bhavana Menon by prominent industry figure Dileep in 2017. Samantha has also urged the Telangana government to submit a similar report on incidents of sexual harassment in the Telugu film industry.

Samantha responds to findings of the Hema committee report

In a powerful Instagram post, Samantha Ruth Prabhu urged the Telangana government to publish a sub-committee report originally submitted by The Voice of Women, a support group formed for women in the Telugu Film Industry (TFI). The post read, “We, the women of the Telugu Film Industry, welcome the Hema Committee report and applaud the sustained efforts of the WCC, Kerala, which has paved the way to this moment. The Voice of Women, a support group for women in TFI (Telugu Film Industry), was formed in 2019 in response to the WCC. We hereby urge the Telangana government to publish the submitted sub-committee report on sexual harassment, which can help shape government and industry policies to create a safe working environment for women in TFI (sic).”

Samantha, in her post, highlighted that the WCC’s commitment to fairness and safe working conditions served as the inspiration for founding The Voice of Women in 2019. She implored the Telangana government to make public the subcommittee’s report that had been submitted, which addresses sexual harassment in the workplace.

About the Hema Committee Report

With more and more victims coming forward with their horrific stories of sexual abuse after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, the Malayalam film industry is being rocked by allegations of sexual abuse against renowned actors and directors. The horrific stories of harassment, exploitation and abuse of female professionals found in the study are alarming. Around 10 to 15 male producers, directors and actors dominate and exercise control over the Malayalam film industry, according to the 233-page study that was made public after the names of the accused and witnesses were suppressed.