Hema Committee report: Why are India’s biggest film stars silent?

A new report that details the oppressive working conditions and widespread sexual abuse against people in Malayalam-language movies is causing major changes in India’s entertainment sector.

However, the messages of solidarity and support have generally come from women, and critics claim that the silence of strong men, including India’s biggest and most adored stars, is audible.

The Hema Committee statement, based on the testimony of 51 people from the Kerala-based film industry, exposes years of abuse and claims that “women have been asked to make themselves accessible for sex on demand” and that they were repeatedly told to create” sacrifice and changes” if they wanted to work.

People in Cinema Collective (WCC), a group of females working in Malayalam film, petitioned the government in 2017 after an alleged best male actor allegedly sexually assaulted a top celebrity by a group of men. The panel was established in 2017.

Their 290-page report was made public last month, with portions of the victims ‘ and those who had been accused of harassment being redacted.

However, some women have formally acknowledged their ordeal since its launch on August 19 and more than a hundred police complaints have been filed against prominent men, including directors, producers, and other women.

In order to ensure that the survivors will ultimately receive justice, the Kerala high court has requested the establishment of a special investigation team ( SIT ) to investigate the allegations and the state government has requested that the SIT conduct an investigation.

People in all Indian movie industries, including the biggest and most well-known Bollywood, have frequently spoken about the practice of men asking for sexual favors in exchange for roles and the pervasive sexual harassment they experience.

Film writer and creator Shubhra Gupta told the BBC,” The fester is as strong as the sea across all American film industries.” Nowhere in the state has a single feminine actor who has not suffered. If anyone came over to talk, it will take us several years to deal with all those complaints”.

The shocking revelations about the state of Malayalam film have caused controversy and have been discussed on nighttime TV. Deedi Damodaran, a WCC part, told the BBC that the answer has been “overwhelming”.

Some people have now described how they had to leave the sector because of the bad things that transpired. They have no facts, but they’ve got some sort of closing by talking about their experience”.

Many of them, she says, have spoken out despite being trolled and abused on social media.

The statement has also created vibrations in other picture companies, with calls for reform being heard in local companies based in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.

In Telangana, pressure has grown on the government to publish a report on the Telugu film industry that’s been waiting to see the light of the day for two years. An inquiry was instituted after an upcoming actress, Sri Reddy, protested by stripping down to her undergarments in public in 2018 “to draw attention to the sexual exploitation of women in the industry”.

West Bengal has set up a committee to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the Bengali film industry, actress Ritabhari Chakraborty has said. This, she added, would “cleanse the industry from predators”.

Ladies in Tamil and Kannada film have even submitted petitions to their state governments asking for better working conditions for them.

Veteran Tamil artist Radhika Sarathkumar told the BBC that “men may be scared now” and that the Hema commission report has raised a lot of attention.

” It’s time women in cinema get together and speak up and stop this nonsense”, she said.

But the lack of support from the men in the industry, says Damodaran, has been disappointing.

Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty have welcomed the report but said that nothing should be done to hurt the industry.

These heroes are revered as larger than life, but we’re awaiting their bravery, Damodaran told the BBC.

In Tamil Nadu, actor-politicians Kamal Haasan and Vijay’s silence has been noted, while Rajinikanth faced criticism for claiming ignorance of the report 10 days after its release.

” The harassment occurs every single one of us; why do men not know about it?” Maybe the male actors compartmentalise, maybe they choose not to see it”, Sarathkumar told the BBC. ” It’s very sad that every time the onus in on the women to protect themselves”.

Some have also pointed out that Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, and others have all made the decision to remain silent.

Gupta says their silence may be deafening, but it’s not unexpected. “I would’ve been very surprised if there had been a reaction. We saw what happened in 2018 after the #MeToo movement first started in Bollywood after actress Tanushree Dutta accused an actor of behaving inappropriately towards her on a film set in 2008.”

There was a groundswell of support for a while, and it appeared that Bollywood would take action. But then things were contained. None of the men suffered any consequences, they are all back to doing what they did. In fact, the women who complained did n’t get work”.

A key criticism of Bollywood is that, unlike other industries, none of its leading actresses have addressed gender issues.

Dutta, who received little support from her A-lister peers and has since claimed that she has been denied work, has described the Hema committee report as “useless”, adding that earlier reports about making workplaces safer for women had not helped.

Gupta claims that one of the reasons stars do n’t speak out might be to avoid trouble for themselves.

“ I think they keep quiet because they know the stakes are high, they are fearful of not getting work in the industry. Remember the time when Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan spoke about intolerance? They got trolled heavily and lost out on work.”

Damodaran, however, says the response to the report has given her cause for optimism.

” Film industries in India are deeply patriarchal and misogynistic. However, we ca n’t continue to practice the sexism and misogyny that women experience at work. Things must change, and they must.