Hema committee report on Malayalam cinema: ‘Incident by incident, many icons started crumbling’
The Kerala government-constituted study of issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry has roiled the state.
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“The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon,” begins the report of a committee constituted by the Kerala government to examine the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. “But, scientific investigations revealed that stars do not twinkle nor does the moon look beautiful. The study cautions: ‘Do not trust what you see, even salt looks like sugar.’”
From this attempt at poetry, the report goes on to detail the rampant sexual abuse, deplorable working conditions and cabalistic practices prevalent in Malayalam cinema.
The committee that wrote the report was formed by the Kerala government in 2017 after an actress was allegedly sexually assaulted at the instigation of the actor Dileep. Following pressure from a group called Women in Cinema Collective, the state goverment commissioned a fact-finding study of what women endure to work in film productions.
The committee was headed by former judge of the High Court of Kerala K Hema. The two other members were actor T Sarada and retired Principal Secretary of the Kerala government KB Valsalakumari.
The 296-page study was completed in 2019 after recording the anonymous testimonies of at least 80 women, from well-known actresses to junior artists. However, the Justice Hema Committee report, as...
