Actor Mohanlal, Ranjith and Siddique. (File Photo)
Like in a well-scripted film, the goings on in the Malayalam film industry over the last few days have kept everyone on the edge of their seats. The executive committee (including the senior and famous actor Mohanlal) of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) disbanded amid growing allegations of sexual assault by women against members. These allegations have come pouring out, and nobody is surprised. An expert committee, headed by the retired Justice K Hema, was constituted by the government of Kerala in 2017, “to study and report on various issues faced by women in cinema and to suggest solutions to such issues”.
The Report will, in the years to come, be held up as a great example of how to follow what is known as “feminist research methodology.” In the description of its methodology, the authors write about the difficulties they experienced in collecting the data. Taking that “extra feminist step”, they interpret the “silence” of the respondents and not just their words — the disappearance of members from WhatsApp groups formed for the purpose, the total silence after the publication in newspapers about the mandate of the Committee and so on. And yet, the Committee remained steadfast and produced a critical report, the likes of which perhaps do not exist anywhere else. It correctly interpreted the silences, the reluctance and the contemptuous dismissal as proof of the extent of violence in the field. The Kerala government, however, delayed releasing the report – many have attributed this to the rather explosive nature of the findings.
Rebecca Corbett, investigations editor at The New York Times, who presided over the publication of an investigation detailing the accounts of several women who claimed that Harvey Weinstein abused or harassed them in incidents throughout the 1990s, said: “The Harvey Weinstein story made it safer for women to speak out.” The release of the Hema Committee report has also perhaps made it safer for other women to speak out in an industry where “compromise and adjustment” are two terms that women who aspire to enter the industry encounter. These are code words that ask women to be available for “sex on demand”.
Describing the purpose of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, its founder, said that it is not about taking down powerful men as much as it is about providing support to the survivors of sexual violence at their workplace. Similarly, the Hema moment in the Malayalam film industry will help survivors feel supported and heard. The feminist philosopher Sarah Miller argues that many women expose rapists in an attempt to “create space for the epistemic, ethical, and political community between survivors of sexual violence by denying hegemonic epistemic discourses of contemporary rape culture.”
Many of the powerful and well-connected men in the Malayalam film industry are yet to understand their “wrongdoing” or feel guilty because their misogyny is so internalised and supported by popular culture. The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC)’s role has been to support survivors, change the culture for future generations, and insist that abuse will not be tolerated. It is to the credit of the Malayalam industry and the women working in it that a collective of 18 women came together to stand by a rape survivor who was sexually assaulted but was brave enough to share her experience and demand justice. The remarkable WCC has a deceptively simple vision statement — “equal spaces and equal opportunities for women in cinema”. And yet, it is not easy to do so, given the control of the industry by powerful men with shared interests.
One of the survivors supported by the WCC spoke out about her shattered dreams. The exploitation is based precisely on the initial attraction many feel towards the field — its glamour, connection with art, and basically “dreams.” Many find their dreams shattered when faced with the sexually exploitative underbelly. It is the hope for self-expression that brings many women into the film industry. Ironically, this is exploited with promises of roles and opportunities in the next film project.
The Hema Committee Report observed the lack of dignified work conditions, absence of toilets and changing rooms for women and irregular and erratic wages as some of the problems facing the Malayalam film industry. The brazen demands made on women (with negotiations not just for one powerful man but a series of powerful men who belong to the tight knot of decision-makers) is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Once protection is negotiated with the mighty man, there is relative peace (and perhaps roles) for the woman actor/dancer/make-up artist/stylist/technician.
The WCC would feel vindicated at this juncture, and its success evokes hope and admiration among all those who seek collective action for justice and dignity. By remaining steadfast in its goals, the collective joins the ranks of other remarkable feminist collectives that have spearheaded change. The Combahee River Collective, which involved some of the luminaries of Black feminism in the 1970s in the USA, believed that “if Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” The remarkable work initiated by the WCC is based on the premise that the Malayalam film industry would be a better and more egalitarian space if the women in the industry were accorded greater dignity and equal opportunities and rights.
This moment is captured by a somewhat macabre meme based on a collage made of many women actors from the South Indian film industry who died by suicide — Shobha and Silk Smitha included. The Hema Committee moment is also the time to remember the deep pain and humiliation of these women. It should remind us not just about the “stars” who “disappeared” — but the countless, faceless “extras” who have been erased silently from the field and sometimes from life itself. The Report gives these women a voice — and it is their spectral presence we see in this moment’s spectacular eruptions.
Menon is Professor of Gender Studies and K C is Assistant Professor of Gender Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi
