THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An uprising of sorts started a year ago in the Malayalam film industry which saw a few female artists take up issues faced by women in the workplace. If that was only the start of a great movement, its ripples can be seen on the mini screen too.
When television artist Nisha Sarang came out openly alleging misbehaviour on the part of the director of the show she was a part of, an unprecedented statement was made, that women wouldn’t take it lying down anymore. But, as the focus shifts to the mini screen, a vast industry which provides a livelihood for over a thousand people, artists say things are fine there, and states Nisha’s experience was just an isolated one.
Says Beena Antony, a very senior artist with an experience of over two decades, “We were shocked to hear about Nisha’s experience. It must have been very traumatic for her. But, I am sure this is an isolated experience. In my two-decade stint, I have never faced anything like a casting couch. I can say that such things don’t happen in the mainstream television industry. We all are with Nisha in this,” says the artist.
But, what about the stories of exploitations that do the rounds? “We do see reports about a serial actor being abused or exploited. But, I am sure that none of this happens in the mainstream industry. It is a very professional sector,” says Beena.
Seema G Nair, a senior actor and the vice-president of the Association of Television Media Artists agrees that mainstream industry is clean of such evils. “Any person who has just appeared in front of the camera is a ‘serial nadi’ these days and people use the tag unabashedly for anyone who has been on a serial set. When such people are nailed for illegal activities, people make it out as if the entire industry is responsible. Even in a recent case where a woman was arrested for fraud, the people and media were quick to tag her a serial actor just because she had a miss-and-blink role in some serial,” she says.
The actor says that it is the public who insults women who act in serials. “It is from outside that we get the negative reactions. Inside the industry, things are pretty safe for us,” says Seema. Both of them adds that there is no need for a separate organisation for women, on the lines of WCC, in the television industry. “Our organisation ATMA addresses all such issues. We never had any woman openly complaining about workplace harassment before. But, otherwise, ATMA is a wonderful organisation and I think they are capable of handling issues like this,” she adds.
Dinesh Panicker, general secretary of ATMA, says that this is the first time a woman has raised the issue of workplace harassment. “In my 13 years, we never had such an issue. We are with Nisha in this. We have initiated discussions with the director and the channel and appropriate steps have been taken,” says Panicker.
But, he adds that ATMA will have no problem if the women want to have a parallel organisation. “It’s up to them. If the women in the industry want to form an organisation for their betterment, they have the freedom to do so,” he adds.