Allegations of sexual harassment are rocking the Kerala film industry

Allegations. Resignation. Police complaints.

These names have been making headlines and rocking the bustling film industry in the southern Indian state of Kerala since last week.

The state is seeing a lot of allegations of sexual harassment from some of the male stars since the historic report that looked at the problems faced by women in the industry. released last week.

The industry, which produces around 150-200 Malayalam language films a year, is a vital, dynamic business that has produced some of the best. highly respected and progressive cinema who came from India.

But the 290-page report by the three-member panel – called the Hema committee – detailed the problems faced by women in Malayalam cinema, including poor working conditions and rampant sexual harassment. Portions of this report have been redacted to conceal the identity of survivors as well as those suspected of abuse.

Since its release, a number of women – some of whom have since retired from acting – have come forward to face sexual harassment and abuse in the industry.

More than ten police complaints have been filed against other male stars, two of whom have filed their complaints.

The upheaval was so great that the entire governing body of the state’s biggest film group – the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) – was dissolved after its president, superstar Mohanlal, resigned on “moral grounds” after some members clashed. being sued.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Few have spoken so far. Big problems may arise,” actress Mala Parvathy told BBC Hindi.

The reaction to the first-of-its-kind report has been closely watched by people in many of India’s film industries, including Bollywood. During the #MeToo movement, several women have made allegations of sexual harassment by actors and filmmakers in different states but few of them have been investigated.

The government set up the Hema committee, headed by a former Kerala High Court judge, in 2017 after the shocking incident. sexual assault on the lead actor. One of Kerala’s biggest actors, Dileep, was named by the police as a suspect and charged with conspiracy. He denies the charges, but was arrested and held in custody for three months before being released on bail. The case is still being heard in court.

After the release of the report, the first public allegations came from Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra, who accused the well-known director Ranjith of sexually harassing her a few years ago. He denied this but resigned as chairman of a prestigious animation school in the state. Mitra filed a complaint with the police.

Many other complaints echo some of the revelations made by unnamed women in the Hema committee report that they were repeatedly asked to “compromise” and “adjust” for opportunities.

Minu Muneer told BBC Hindi and several other news channels that the actor hugged and kissed her without her consent while they were shooting the film. He also detailed incidents of sexual misconduct by others in the industry, including prominent actor and lawyer Mukesh.

Mukesh dismissed the allegations against him and accused Muneer of trying to cheat him.

“I welcome any investigation into the allegations made against me and others in the film industry,” he wrote on Facebook.

Two actors accused the director of knocking on the doors of their hotel rooms in the middle of the night. He has not responded to the allegations.

Another actress accused famous actor Siddique of raping her in 2016 and filed a complaint with the police. Siddique, who resigned as AMMA General Secretary after the allegations, denied this and accused the complainant of trying to “defame him”.

Although the Kerala government was lauded for being the first to set up such a committee, the release of this report has once again put it on the back foot.

The report, launched in 2019, was released last week after nearly five years of delays and numerous legal challenges by members of the film industry. The government then said that although it will investigate all the complaints lodged with the police, it will not answer them themselves. But as pressure mounts, it has set up a special task force to investigate the complaints.

The Kerala High Court has also asked the government to submit the entire report – including the 54 pages of drawings – to it.

In the Malayalam film industry, the reaction to the report has been mixed. Stars like Mohanlal and Mammotty have been criticized for not commenting publicly yet.

Some actors welcomed the release of the report and urged the government to conduct a proper investigation into the allegations. The union of prominent film workers has asked the government to reveal the names of the suspects in the report.

Others complained that this report is being used to label all men in this field as abusers.

But many have argued that the report and subsequent shake-up are positive, much-needed changes in an industry often celebrated for making progressive films.

“I am not right when people say, ‘Malayalam industry is very rotten from within’. No, we are good inside, that’s why we are making amends,” said actress Parvathy Thiruvothu, a founding member of the Women in Cinema Collective, an organization that was founded after the assault incident in 2017, told the news channel.

They were industries he “heard nothing about” that people should be “concerned about”, he added.

Additional reporting by Meryl Sebastian in Delhi