HYDERABAD: “To this date whoever has questioned the issue of sexual harassment in the industry has seen a fall in their career with offers running dry. This is why this committee is important,” stated aspiring Telugu actor Sri Reddy on Thursday at a Press Conference held in the city.
She was speaking about the Telangana government’s decision to set up the High level committee to look into issues of sexual harassment in Tollywood, and called the whole move a ‘success for thousands of women working in the industry’.
“It is not just this, there needs to be an overall gender sensitivity in the film industry. For instance, why is nudity still promoted and demanded from female actors. Nudity is sold in Tollywood,” noted Sri Reddy. The Telangana Women’s Organisation JAC who were the petitioners in the PIL at Telangana High Court, that fetched this committee, also lauded the constitution of such a body. However, they noted that there was an urgent need to define film industry’s workplace as it extends from the acting classes, to auditioning stage, to studios, to outdoor shoots, making it tougher for ICC to define its scope of operation.
“We have come a long way in this battle because initially all that we heard during the arguments given by the stakeholders is that there is a Local Complaints Committee in place and there is an ICC in the Telugu Film Chambers of Commerce. However repeated complaints have shown that is not enough as film industry extends across several unions, councils and studios,” noted Vasudha Nagaraj, the advocate arguing for the specific PIL.
Meanwhile, sources note the High level committee is slated to have its first meeting on the 26th of April and will be working on the modalities of how to function. “It is critical to understand that this committee will have a big scope and define how the industry works from multiple perspectives of gender and labour rights. It is not just to look into Sexual Harassment but also how are junior artists treated,” noted A Suneetha of Anveshi.
Representations submitted to panel
24 hour helpline by Film Development Corporation
Regulating the dance/acting schools
Identity cards to aspiring artists
Basic facilities for dialogue and character artists
Payments to artist directly through banks
Regularisation of process of entry into MAA