In late 2018, when Bollywood was in the grips of the MeToo movement, the Hema Committee was working towards bringing to light sexual harassment and discrimination against women in the Malayalam film industry. More than five years later, since one of the most exhaustive documents on violations against women was made public on August 19, there has barely been an acknowledgement of its gravity in one of the largest filmmaking industries of the world.
Something seems rotten in the state of Bollywood when it comes to gender sensitivity. Instead of addressing the elephant in the room, the attempt has been to disregard it. “It’s as if it’s happening in another country as if no parallels can be drawn here… How will the kettle call the pot black? It’s like everybody is complicit and it keeps the business going,” says screenwriter Atika Chohan.
Especially galling has been the blackout of the issue by celebrities. “The big names who identify as feminists could have brought it into the public sphere, but didn’t do it,” says journalist and author Karishma Upadhyay, who had made her harassment known.
The tone deafness on the report stems basically from Bollywood having squandered the MeToo momentum. “Nothing changed. Everything is the way it was. It’s like MeToo never happened,” adds Upadhyay.
What followed instead were attempts at diverting from and subverting the very essence of the movement. “Conversations around gender equality begin with defining feminism and not #NotAllMen. You start on the defensive. The issues and solutions are obvious. These feel like tactics to waste time and delay action,” says Smriti Kiran, founder of Polka Dots Lightbox and curator of Maitri, a female-first collective.
There is the perception that, unlike Kerala, the movement in Mumbai remained driven by individuals and couldn’t transform into a concerted exercise. “Solidarity was there among women who came out, but it got scattered,” says filmmaker and editor of The Daily Eye, Vinta Nanda.
Some sets in Mumbai might feel safer now than others and clauses safeguarding women’s rights might have been introduced in contracts by a few studios, but these are a few individual initiatives rather than systemic overhauls. There is celebration of these glacially-slow changes and any disappointment at these not being enough is scoffed at. “It is another form of gaslighting. All change towards bridging this divide is appreciated, but a lot more needs to be done and at a pace commensurate with the colossal gap. Pointing this out is being realistic and not negative,” says Kiran.
Organisations like the Screenwriters’ Association and CINTAA did come out in support initially, but the engagement wasn’t sustained. Many allege that the implementation of Vishakha guidelines and the POSH Act of 2013 has remained on paper; internal complaints committees have often turned out compromised.
Most of the men who were named and shamed in Bollywood eventually didn’t just get exonerated but also comfortably rehabilitated. On the other hand, all the women who spoke up were left vulnerable to further abuse and pressure, and their cases were forced to a close. The most debilitating has been the denial of work and marginalisation within the industry. “The women are, in fact, much more in jeopardy for coming out and putting their heads and careers on the line… The Bollywood system has gone even more vigilant in making sure that it protects men more fiercely,” says Chohan.
There is cynicism, and an accompanying bitterness among women, even among those at the top, and the allegations that many big wolves would still be roaming around in the industry, their predatory ways unchecked. “I do understand why the younger girls [of the 2018 MeToo movement] have disappeared and gone silent—because they have their whole lives and careers in front of them,” says Nanda.
On the flip side, there have been righteous assertions by some filmmakers about having more women in their crew as a way to create equality of opportunity, but that has also left many unimpressed. It’s inevitable, with women making headway in all walks of life. “With the world watching, they have to include them. It’s more like window dressing. They’re not doing it willingly,” says Nanda.
Kiran points out that it’s harder for women to prove they are up for a task. “The investor confidence is low. There are instances where producers don’t give women filmmakers action films to direct or don’t give action sequences to women cinematographers to shoot. ”
She points out the gatekeeping in the industry and how harsh it is for women to get decision-making opportunities: “New male directors, if they do well, instantly become hot property. A woman, despite success, finds it hard to stay on the grid. If she fails then that turns into a funeral and not something that is par for the course. The parameters are skewed to say the least.”
There are other issues enumerated in the Hema Committee report that hold true for Bollywood as well. Like the poor working conditions, denial of basic facilities on sets and, most importantly, a galling disparity in pay. “There must be pay parity. Then everything will fall into place. Pay me equally, and you will treat me equally,” says Nanda.
According to Upadhyay, “Abhi Dilli door hai” (It’s a long way to go) and powerful women in Bollywood—with the integrity of the likes of Parvathy Thiruvothu, Rima Kallingal, Revathi and Bina Paul—will need to step in and step up.
The Hema Committee was no doubt a game-changer, but it’s appalling for it to have been lying buried for more than five years when it could have put the MeToo movement in India in a completely different space. Says Nanda: “We would have reached the goalpost back in 2019. I feel saddened that we lost a consequential moment.”