The patriarchy protects itself’ it is said and the Tamil film industry has shown this to be true time and again. There was some Twitter solidarity for #timesup and murmurs of acknowledgement for #MeToo but when it came down to dealing with accusations of sexual harassment, there has been deliberate silence from all quarters.
So, it is not only surprising but also commendable that ‘senior artiste’ and more appropriately ‘serial offender’ Radha Ravi has received the wrath he has. At an event to launch actress Nayanthara’s film (which she wasn’t even aware of), this man was asked to speak. Whether that translates in his vocabulary as slut-shame or he considers himself a stand-up comedian (albeit sleazy) of sorts we will never know, but he took stage and went on to make regressive remarks about a top star, only pausing for applause as he went from commenting about casting to positing about the Pollachi case.
After award-winning singer Chinmayi brought this video to public notice, several celebrities have condemned it. Nayanthara’s partner and director Vignesh Shivn put out a post, the Nadigar Sangam has issued a warning, the DMK which Radha Ravi is associated with has suspended his party membership, KJR Studios has banned him from future productions and Nayanthara herself has released a note. At its very end of her note is this: “Lastly, my humble question to the South Indian Artistes’ Association (Nadigar Sangam):- Will you set up the Internal Complaints Committee as per the hon’ble Supreme Court’s dictum and commence an internal inquiry as per Vishakha Guidelines???”
Several actors including Varalaxmi Sarathkumar have been pushing for an Internal Complaints Committee to be set up for cine actors and so has the recently formed ‘South Indian Film Women’s Association’ for women in all departments of the southern industries. Why the Nadigar Sangam needs an ICC is a matter of non-debate, but it’s mandate will be much larger than that prescribed by the law, because with cinema a lot more lies in the greys than not — an article by an actress on the trauma of a rape scene shoot that was published on a popular news website.
Now that the lady superstar has spoken, maybe we can hope to see an ICC set up and have the light turn to the many preys who have stood a long time in the shadows? But will it really have power? Who will its gatekeepers be? Who will the patriarchal brethren give up as token predators and who will they protect? Radha Ravi has been asked to ‘reign it in’. Does that mean we can expect Vairamuthu’s to be weeded out? Most importantly, in a world where the reel and the real is almost indecipherable, how much can the cine industry change till cine-watchers cheer on chauvinism and troll truth-sayers?