The Malayalam film industry is going through a ‘Harvey Weinstein moment’… Well, almost. Many things which were discussed in hushed tones are coming out in the open, powerful men in the industry are squirming in their hot seats not knowing when their glamorous cover will be blown away and more and more women are coming out sharing their traumatic experiences. All these, thanks to a 295-page Hema committee report.
It was in 2017 that the state government constituted the three-member committee headed by retired Kerala High Court judge Justice K Hema after the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) petitioned the Kerala government following the high-profile actress’ abduction and molestation case. The WCC, comprising women actors, directors and technicians, was formed in response to this incident and the Hema Committee was set up as a response to the demand of the WCC.
A first of its kind in the country, the committee was asked to conduct a detailed study on issues of gender inequality and recommend measures to improve the situation for women part of it. The committee submitted a report to the government in December 2019.
Then started the prolonged wait. Despite repeated requests from the WCC, the state government preferred to keep the report under wraps, treating it as some top-class secret. But it had to relent after four and a half years following the order of the State Information Commission and a high court verdict.
All hell broke loose as the report was out in the open. Despite significant redactions (55 pages detailing personal accounts of sexual harassment have been obscured), the report has stirred the proverbial hornet’s nest.
It still read like a third-grade midnight masala full of explicit scenes, coercion and blackmailing of the worst kind. Pointing fingers at the ‘boys’ club’ in the Malayalam film industry, the Hema Committee says: “A lobby of 10-15 men, consisting of producers, directors, actors and production controllers, calls unofficial ‘bans’ on anyone who open up about the issues of the industry.”
Altogether, it was a damning indictment of pervasive and systemic sexual harassment and various forms of physical and emotional abuse that was rampant in the Malayalam film industry.
The report has polarised Kerala society. While all admit that sexual harassment in the film industry is a reality, some allege that the report is one-sided and has painted every man in the industry as a villain and has not bothered to record the other side of the story.
There is also an argument that the committee is talking about working conditions that existed a decade back or much before. Some also point out that these discriminations are not anything peculiar to the Malayalam film, but universal. All these arguments are, in a way, correct. But that does not take away the reality that there has been gross violation of basic human rights in the film industry.
The report has been creating ripples in the political sphere. The HC too has rapped the government for not acting. The government, on its part, has defended the delay citing the sensitive information in the report. But that has not cut much ice, so far.
If there is something that shines through amid all this chaos, it is the perseverance and grit of the WCC. They were the ones who went to war to make the voice of women heard. It is their fight that made everyone realise that women too deserve a dignified space in the film industry. Though the Hema Committee was all about the Malayalam film industry, its resonance must go beyond Kerala as the problems discussed in the report are national, if not universal. Until men and women are treated with equal respect and dignity in the film industries, there will be more predators and more prey.
As Salma Hayek, while sharing her traumatic experiences with Weistein said: “Men sexually harassed because they could. Women are talking today because, in this new era, we finally can…” Only the deaf can afford not to listen to these voices.
