The public release of the report marks the end of one important task — of putting on record the deplorable conditions under which women work in the Malayalam film industry.
Late-night knocks on the door and demands for sexual favours in exchange for work, lack of basic facilities like women’s toilets and changing rooms, withholding of remuneration and threat of bans: The ugly reality of the Malayalam film industry stands revealed in the Justice Hema Committee report, a redacted version of which was made public on August 19, four years after it was submitted to the Kerala government. Following the abduction and sexual assault of an actor in February 2017, which led to widespread outrage, the Committee was set up to investigate the problems faced by women working in the state’s film industry. The report — the first of its kind in India — reveals an industry tightly controlled by a powerful few, where a culture of silence has allowed misogyny to run rampant.
The public release of the report marks the end of one important task — of putting on record the deplorable conditions under which women work in the Malayalam film industry. It signals the start of another, more arduous, endeavour. Steps must now be taken for redressal and reform. Some tentative steps have already been taken. In 2022, for example, in response to a petition by the Women in Cinema Collective, the Kerala High Court ruled that film production units were required to constitute Internal Complaints Committee as mandated by the POSH Act. The Report recommends the enactment of a statute that addresses the specific problems encountered by women in the film industry, as well as constitution of a tribunal to look into their complaints. But where the problem stems from a deeply-entrenched and pervasive culture of sexism and where an outsized power asymmetry determines who is heard and who is silenced, court rulings and new statutes would have little impact unless there is a larger reckoning. An industry that is lauded for the progressive content of its films, must now ask how it can shed regressive attitudes and commit to creating a safe working environment for all.
In a 2018 TEDx Talk, actor Rima Kallingal framed the challenge before the Malayalam film industry: “It is not possible to turn a blind eye to the sexism, ageism and casteism that exist in our society and that is reflected in our cinema content. You cannot not be disturbed by the fact that an artist community is not trying to change that narrative.” Even as the rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata brings people out in protest, raising concerns over the safety of women, the Malayalam film industry has the opportunity for real change. It must not let it go.
