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Women in Cinema Collective | The fight for a gender-balanced workplace
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The platform, whose petition led to the setting up of the Hema Committee by the Kerala government, stands vindicated as its report unveiled ‘horrid tales of sexual exploitation, illegal bans, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse and wage disparity’ in the Malayalam film industry
(From left) Padmapriya, Rima Kallingal, Beena Paul, Revathi and Parvathy Thiruvothu
| Photo Credit: Illustration: R. Rajesh
“This is the voice of women and it must be heard!” This was how a Facebook post by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) concluded hours after the Kerala government released the redacted form of the K. Hema Committee report on the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry on August 19, 2024. The 235-page report had created a political storm in the State as it had revealed “horrid tales of sexual exploitation, illegal bans, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse, wage disparity and in some cases, inhuman working conditions” in the multi-crore industry.
For the WCC, “it has been a long journey” as they stood vindicated in their fight for “justice for all women wanting a dignified professional space in the film industry”. The three-member committee led by a former judge of the Kerala High Court was set up by the government in July 2017 as an outcome of a petition submitted by the collective to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to study the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. Though the committee had submitted its report on December 31, 2019, it was not made public on the grounds that it contained sensitive information.
Justice Hema Committee report: A timeline of events so far
A first of its kind in the country, the WCC came into being after a woman actor was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving car on the night of February 17, 2017 in Kochi. Shell-shocked over the dastardly act, a group of nearly 18 women that included some of the prominent technicians, writers and actors joined hands to stand by the survivor and undertake an unwavering fight for justice.
A probe by the Special Investigation Team of the Kerala Police led to the arrest of Malayalam actor Dileep, who allegedly nursed a grudge towards the victim over her reported involvement in the break-up of his previous matrimonial relationship. He was arrested on July 10, 2017, after being arraigned as eighth accused in the case. After spending 85 days in the Aluva sub-jail in Ernakulam, the actor secured a bail from the Kerala High Court and was released on October 3, 2017.
According to the WCC, the “entire episode and ensuing reactions reaffirmed the stronghold of patriarchal beliefs in the film industry, highlighting the challenges faced by survivors in their course of pursuing justice”. Nearly three months after the assault on the actress, the collective was formally launched on May 18, 2017. The WCC was registered under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 on November 1, 2017, with “a vision to ensure equal spaces and equal opportunities for women in cinema”.
Kerala High Court directs State govt to produce entire Hema Committee report
Non-discriminatory workspace
Its mission goals included working towards building a safe, non-discriminatory and professional workspace for women in cinema through advocacy and policy change and creating awareness about gender bias and exploitation faced by women in the film industry, both on-screen and off-screen. A volunteer spirit drives the functioning of the collective as it works in a lateral structure. The responsibilities are shared and various teams handle a wide variety of roles, including daily management, policy generation and engagement with experts on legal perspectives connected to the workplace rights of women. A person above the age of 18 years working in the Malayalam film industry, with minimum three film credits to her name and referred by the existing members becomes eligible for membership in the collective, according to the official website.
In the first two years since its inception, the WCC largely focussed on dealing with sexual harassment within the industry. As barbs were thrown at the survivor from within the industry, it rallied behind her and launched a counter-resistance campaign with the hashtag #Avalkoppam (With her). The global attention gained in 2017 for the #MeToo movement gave a fillip to to their initiative.
What the Hema Committee report says about the Malayalam film industry
Despite being aware of the possible damage it may cause on their careers, four members of the WCC, including the survivor, resigned from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) in June 2018, protesting against the organisation’s decision to reinstate Dileep, who was ousted from the organisation after he was named as an accused in the abduction and sexual assault case. Those who walked out included actors Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambeesan, and filmmaker Geetu Mohandas, after they stated that the “leadership of the association was with the accused and not the survivor”. Actor Parvathy Thiruvothu, who wanted to continue the fight from within, resigned in October 2020 in protest against the alleged derogatory remarks made by a key office-bearer of the actors’ body against the survivor.
The protracted battle against the male-dominated structures in the industry has come at a price, especially for the eloquent voices in the collective. As the Hema Committee report itself stated: “WCC members have a strong case that they were all banned from cinema because they openly stated undesirable things that happen in cinema. They are practically kept away by those who are offended by what members of the collective stated openly against the atrocities in cinema and from AMMA”.
An actor who deposed before the committee denied the allegations of denial of opportunities to WCC members as he asked them to “accept the reality that the prominence of the actress will be reduced as days pass by and this is very common”. The collective and its working model has come under oblique criticism from within the industry as they have been often labelled as “feminists who stay inside the comforts of cyberspace’ and ‘carrying out women empowerment through Facebook”.
AMMA in the defensive after more women actors demand action, male superstars continue silence
Relentless pursuits
However, the relentless legal pursuit of the collective to ensure the workplace rights of women received a major boost after the Kerala High Court directed film production houses on March 17, 2022 to form an internal complaints committee (ICC) as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The Bench, which acted on a petition filed by the WCC, held that “each film unit in an industry is an establishment and an ICC needs to be constituted for that purpose”. It had also opposed the plea of a film producer challenging the order of the State Information Commissioner to make public the Hema Committee report.
The WCC has expanded its wings by undertaking various independent projects. It partnered with the Sakhi Women’s Resource Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, to bring out a report, ‘Shift Focus: Women Shaping the Narrative in Media and Entertainment’, focusing on creating guidelines for building gender-balanced professional spaces in the film industry. It has been working on developing a network of counsellors to extend a helping hand to women facing negative experiences in the industry. The collective has also initiated a project to collect quantitative information on the number of women in the film industry under specific skill sets aimed to learn about disparity and lack of inclusion. Over the last seven years, it has emerged as a strong platform “where untold experiences of women in cinema have found voice, and are being heard”.
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