The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an association of women in the Malayalam film industry, has come out against the recent incident where a case was filed by a young actress against director Jean Paul Lal.
In a Facebook post, WCC said that such incidents revealed how women were perceived in the industry and the extent of assaults against them. The post said: “It is a basic courtesy to inform and seek the permission of an actor before using dupes.
This should be put on the contract signed with the actor. It is important to revise the contract system by including clauses for work hours, payment and use of dupe, instead of the existing ones that are made from the producer’s standpoint. It has to be highlighted that many people, including actors, work in the Malayalam industry without proper contracts. Deciding not to pay the actress and proclaiming the same before the media was an arrogant act.”
The WCC also flayed the incident where an actor was blackmailed by leaking her pictures through social media.
“These incidents point to the gender inequality and lack of proper norms prevalent in the industry. It is important to constitute a workplace guideline. This also reiterates our stance for constituting a special cell to address complaints with regard to sexual harassment,” the post read.