'Aattam' director says National Award-winning drama not based on any incident, reflects on Hema Committee report

The film which was widely recognised and beloved by cinephiles for its take on sexual violence at workplaces had won three accolades at the 70th National Film Awards.

Poster of filmmaker Anand Ekarshi's directorial debut 'Aattam' Photo | Instagram

Days after the Justice Hema Committee report uncovered cases of sexual misconduct in the Malayalam film industry, Anand Ekarshi whose directorial debut Aattam bagged three National Awards, recently shared how his film that dealt with sexual assault wasn't based on any particular case. He also called for concrete measures to ensure film sets are safe for women.

The Justice Hema Committee report was released by the Kerala government last week, four-and-a-half years after it was submitted to the Kerala Chief Minister. Anand Ekarshi's comments follow after the MeToo movement in Mollywood.

"When writing the movie, I wasn’t thinking of a particular case. When I decided that sexual assault would be the crime in my story, I wanted to talk about the dimensions and perspectives not being spoken about and what happens behind the doors. I wasn’t thinking of what was happening in the film industry or any particular case," he said in an exclusive interview with The Indian Express.

“When I did the script narration, I was told that once the film is released there could be parallel readings of it with whatever is happening in the society. Which is fair, even though we didn’t intend that, once a film is done they can read it the way they want. This crime isn’t only limited to the industry anyway, even though it’s related,” he continued.

When asked how to make film sets safer for women, the debutant filmmaker said that production houses need to take some measures to bring about systemic changes. "There’s a lot of systemic problems. Most films are a result of people coming together, who you don’t know. You don’t know their background or mindset, you’re there for a temporary period."

“If there’s a panel on every film, then there will be responsible behaviour by people as you’d know that there is somebody watching out. That’s an important thing that should be brought to action as soon as possible. This panel—be it one person or two people—should be with them throughout the production of the movie,” he added.

Aattam, which was widely recognised and beloved by cinephiles for its take on sexual violence at workplaces had won three accolades at the 70th National Film Awards. The film stars Zarin Shihab, Vijay Forrt and Kalabhavan Shajohn, in prominent roles and is currently streaming on Prime Video.