Lights, camera, inaction!

Five months after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, not much seems to have changed in the Malayalam film industry. The report was released in August 2024 after the Pinarayi Vijayan government sat on it for over four years; that too, after redacting substantial parts. Nothing has changed for those women actors and technicians subjected to sexual harassment. Victims who deposed continue to live in trauma, fresh cases continue to be reported, and similar exercises have not been undertaken by the Telugu, Tamil or Kannada film industries.

In January 2025, the digital news portal Newsminute reported that one of the victims had chosen to leave not just the industry, but also the state. The man she had accused of rape is back in action, out on bail granted by the Supreme Court. The court asked her why she had delayed filing her complaint. “I don’t even know why I thought something would come out of this. I don’t want to work or live in Kerala,” Newsminute quoted her as saying from an undisclosed location.

On 31 December 2024, the All Kerala Cine Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists (AKCMH) Union cancelled hair stylist Sivapriya Maneeshya’s membership, formalising her isolation within the industry. A majority of her regular clients in the Malayalam film industry stopped hiring her after she blew the whistle. “Those who are listed as accused in these cases are still active in the industry while we are denied work,” said Sivapriya. She too has left Kerala.

For those let off the hook, it’s show business as usual. The arrest of Malayalam director V.K. Prakash and actor Mukesh in late 2024 had marked the first ‘action’ since the Justice Hema Committee report was released. Even in its redacted avatar, the report contained extensive documentation, as well as ample audio and video evidence in support of its findings.

Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was booked by the police in January 2025 for allegedly harassing a prominent woman actor on social media. The charges include stalking, criminal intimidation and defamation.

Sasidharan also stands accused of death threats to the woman and her daughter in a Facebook post. Formal complaints have been made against veteran filmmaker and KSFDC (Kerala State Film Development Corporation) chairman Shaji N. Karun for verbal abuse and targeted harassment of women filmmakers seeking funding to make their films.

In 2017, the Hindi film industry was rocked by allegations that piled up after Tanushree Dutta first spoke out about sexual harassment. Both Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl were cleared of charges in 2019 by the ICC (Internal Complaints Committee).

In Tamil Nadu, singer/dubbing artist Chinmayi led the movement with charges against lyricist Vairamuthu, after which several others came out with allegations against him. All it accomplished was the derailment of Chinmayi’s career. Across languages, the film industry maintained a distance. The movement quietly fizzled out until February 2017, when actor Bhavna Menon was assaulted in a moving vehicle by a gang of hired men (allegedly at the behest of actor Dilip).

This outrage led to the formation of the Women’s Cinema Collective (WCC) by editor Bina Paul, cinematographer Fowzia Fathima, actors Parvati Thiruvottu and Rima Kallingal, writer Vidhu Vincent and director Revathi.

The WCC met chief minister Pinarayi Ravi, seeking intervention to safeguard the interests of women in the film industry. In November 2017, they petitioned Kerala High Court to ensure the formation of the ICC and strict implementation of the POSH (Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment) Act. The landmark direction by the court for the industry to adhere to the POSH Act in all film units was the first of its kind in the country.

The WCC petitioned the government to formalise wage structures and welfare schemes for women, including maternity pay and subsidies for crew with 30 per cent women as well to start technical courses that would facilitate direct employment of women in government-owned studios.

Despite repeated requests and several RTIs, the Hema Committee’s report was kept under wraps. In her cautionary letter, the committee’s chairperson had stressed, ‘I would also bring to your kind notice the need to keep the report confidential since it contains details of sexual assault, harassment and abuse which were disclosed to the committee by various women in privacy and in in-camera proceedings.

'We have been following the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in various decisions to keep the matter extra confidential. I would also take the liberty to alert you to follow these principles, before parting with the report to anybody in a routine manner.’ Five years after it was tabled in December 2019, the Hema Committee report was finally made public.

The opening lines of the report read, ‘The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon. But scientific investigation revealed that the stars do not twinkle, nor does the moon look beautiful.’

Tinseltown was full of rot, as was evident in the listing of 17 different forms of exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. Numerous instances of harassment — midnight knocks on doors, demands for sexual favours, intimate scenes needlessly shot several times — were recorded in detail even as the report flagged the gender-based wage gap.

The argument that more women in the workplace will reduce gender-based harassment might hold true in the film industry as well. Gender sensitivity and awareness of the possibility of punitive action might also act as deterrents.

Despite many women artists having internalised their sexualisation, objectification and harassment, the WCC’s battle is an important and ongoing one. While the report and the action against a few actors and directors will not, and has not, revolutionised the industry, it has certainly brought the battle out into the open.

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu issued a statement demanding something similar in the Telugu film Industry. Senior actor Radhika Sarathkumar, while revealing instances of unsafe caravans for women in Kerala, expressed reluctance about sharing #metoo stories in Tamil Nadu due to lack of support. Chinmayi continues to be the flagbearer of the fight against harassment on and off film sets.

While the film industry seems to have felt the need for introspection and corrective action, few are willing to address the issue, be it privately or publicly. Arrests are seen as sabre-rattling and posturing rather than signs of real change.

A sense of helplessness and pessimism regarding genuine action against big stars persists among many women artists. But as actor-director Revathi said, “This is the first time a state government has undertaken such a study of the film industry. Though delayed, it’s a positive step. But we have a long road ahead to make the industry safer.”

Uma Vangal is a Fulbright scholar and professor of film at the International Institute of Film and Culture and Asian College of Journalism, Chennai