What comes after Malayalam Cinema’s MeToo Reckoning?

The release of the Hema Committee report on rampant sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry reflects deeper misogynistic attitudes across the country that will be harder to shake

Based in the southern state of Kerala, the Malayalam-language film industry has been in the news a lot lately, for both good and bad reasons. It is responsible for some of the most interesting films in any Indian language in recent years, earning it accolades and a fan base that goes beyond those who speak the language. Anand Ekarshi’s 2023 thriller Aattam (The play) tells the story of a female actor in a theater group who is harassed at night by one of her twelve male colleagues. The film assesses the gender politics at play when the men meet to discuss the crime (invoking the statements of Sidney Lumet). 12 angry men1957), and was named Best Feature Film at India’s 70th National Film Awards. Earlier this year, Payal Kapadia’s trilingual film was released Everything we imagine as light (2024) was awarded the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The first feature film from India to compete in the main competition since 1994, Everything we imagine as light contains one section spoken entirely in Malayalam. Prasanna Vithanage’s Paradise (2023), which premiered at the 28th Busan International Film Festival, won the Kim Jiseok Award last October.

Yet Malayalam cinema has also been thrust into the spotlight following the release in mid-August of the report of the Hema committee (named after the retired judge who headed the committee) on rampant sexual harassment, misogyny and the appalling conditions faced by women encountered in the industry. . The findings were initiated by the Kerala government following a petition by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and have sparked a new wave of the #MeToo movement. The WCC’s demand came after a horrific 2017 case of kidnapping and sexual assault of a well-known actress, allegedly orchestrated by Dileep (who goes by one stage name), one of the most influential actor-producers in the industry. The case remains in court, while Dileep’s career has barely suffered a scratch. Unlike that of the survivor, whose identity was not only publicly revealed (under Indian law, identity protection of survivors of sexual violence is mandatory): shamed and deceived online, and forced to take a five-year break from working in Malayalam films.

The Hema report is likely to have far-reaching implications for the Malayalam film industry – albeit a smaller world than its giant Hindi counterpart (aka Bollywood) in terms of production, financial power and global influence. Although all names and identifying details have been redacted, the report details the lack of basic facilities – such as separate toilets and dressing rooms – on film sets, the absence of contracts and an extreme pay gap between men and women. It emphasizes the expectation that women (even, in one documented case, minors) are “available” for sex on demand or risk being denied employment. The report also points to a ‘power group of fifteen men’ that includes actors, directors and producers who impose unofficial bans on women who do not follow the rules and/or object to poor working conditions. All this is compounded by a lack of support from the unions (mostly led by men, some of whom are also accused of sexual abuse), despite the fact that Kerala has one of the strongest union cultures in the country thanks to its history of left-wing elections. and communist parties in power.

Although the report was initially submitted to the Kerala government in 2019, authorities failed to take action on the findings for five years. WCC. But the aftermath has developed with dizzying speed. In the first case filed on the basis of the statements in late September, the Kerala police are investigating make-up artist Saji Koratty for sexual harassment and stalking. More and more female artists have come forward with stories of sexual abuse and rampant abuse of power by male colleagues, with some of them directly affecting some of the best-known names in the industry.

It wasn’t long before similar testimonies emerged from the Tamil and Telugu film industries in Kerala’s neighboring states. It should be noted that allegations of sexual abuse and harassment have been made regarding the industry for many years – in both regions and elsewhere in the country. These were widely reported in regional and national media, both at the height of the global #MeToo movement and in the years since. Yet no other film industry, including Bollywood, has taken steps such as setting up a committee to investigate working conditions, nor made any serious attempt to take such allegations into account other than treating them as one-off cases. So there have rarely been any consequences for the suspects, while the survivors have consistently been intoxicated, viciously targeted online, or lost their jobs as a result of the backlash.

When, after several days of silence, reactions to the Hema report began to appear from prominent industry players, they were varied and often emotional. Some tried to deflect blame and cover up their responsibility. Mohanlal, one of the biggest stars in Malayalam, only resigned from the Association for Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) after several other members of the union were accused of sexual abuse, while still maintaining that he was not part of the ‘power group ‘. Instead, he urged the audience, “Don’t destroy the Malayalam film industry like this.” A statement from Mammootty, another influential star, echoed similar sentiments. An old interview from 2018 is circulating online, in which Mohanlal dismisses the #MeToo movement as a ‘trend’, before suggesting that men could also start a similar movement.

It has been reported that the leaders of a union representing makeup artists and hairstylists are pressuring their female members not to speak up, accusing those who do of “conspiring to destroy the union.” Meanwhile, in neighboring Karnataka (home to the Kannada-language film industry), members of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce have opposed the introduction of internal committees (IC) on film sets, dismissing these organized bodies as ‘redundant’. ICs have been set up with the intention of ensuring the safety of women workers and are mandatory in all workplaces under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act. Members also expressed concerns about the establishment of the Hema committee due to the risk that it could lead to ‘financial losses’.

The casual attitude towards dealing (or not) with the issues women face on film sets undoubtedly stems from historical and acutely patriarchal ideas of women working with men, and of women working in entertainment. Until a few decades ago, it was assumed that girls from supposedly ‘good’ and ‘decent’ families did not end up in films. If they appeared on stage at all, it was only acceptable if it was one of the classical arts, such as Bharatanatyam or Carnatic music. The assumption that actors who recreate a romance with a man on screen must be ‘easy’ and willing to pursue such liaisons in real life, and that those who work into the wee hours are available for sex on demand is a deeply held assumption. rot that is certainly not limited to the Malayalam film industry. Parvathy Thiruvothu (a member of the WCC and an actor who faced serious trolling when she spoke out against these issues a few years ago) said in a recent interview that the main intention of the Hema committee report was to “review practices into the workplace that would protect everyone in the world’. the industry’ – and not just the women. How much will change, and how quickly, remains to be seen. Although, if precedents are anything to go by, there is still a very long way to go before any change in both the prevailing attitudes and policies in the Indian film industry takes effect.

Deepa Bhasthi is a writer based in Kodagu