Chennai: Malayalam actor Kabani is not shocked by Justice Hema Committee’s report on the exploitation of women and the extent of misogyny in Kerala’s movie business. She’s lived through it. Finally, the Malayalam film industry is in the throes of its own ‘Me Too’ reckoning. It’s not just “rampant” sexual abuse of women, casting couch politics, and a “mafia” of powerful men, but daily micro-aggressions that remained unarticulated—until now.
For actors like Kabani, it’s long overdue. It took her nearly 20 years to land a role in the critically acclaimed 2021 movie, The Great Indian Kitchen. Not because of the lack of talent, but her refusal to kowtow to male directors, actors and producers.
“We are told not to raise our voices against any injustice in the industry. We wouldn’t reach mainstream movies otherwise,” said Kabani. “Sexual favours are asked from women as early as they are offered the role. I was laughed at many times when I asked details about the role itself.”
The Hema Committee report, released on 19 August, has forced the Kerala government and the Malayalam film industry to confront these issues—publicly.
“Many in the industry are made to believe that all women in the industry get into the industry or are retained only because they have sex with men In the industry,” said the damning 235-page report that has sent shockwaves not just through Kerala but neighbouring states as well.
The Malayalam film industry, celebrated for making progressive movies—much like its counterpart in West Bengal—is falling like a house of cards as more women actors, filmmakers and scriptwriters are speaking out against such injustices.
Stars like Mukesh, Jayasurya, Sudheesh, Riyas Khan, Maniyanpilla Raju and former AMMA general secretary Edavela Babu are being named, shamed and scrutinised on social media.
A Special Investigation Team has been formed to probe sexual abuse in the industry. Filmmaker Ranjith has stepped down as chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy. He’s been accused by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra of “playing with her bangles and then her hair before touching the nape of her neck during a meeting to discuss a film”. Actor Siddique has sent a resignation email to AMMA after a young actor accused him of sexually assaulting her. She had first accused him in 2019 but no action was taken. He has now filed a police complaint against her.
On Tuesday, Mohanlal, the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), and all 17 members of its executive committee submitted their resignations citing allegations levelled against a few members. The committee had been only elected for their five-year term in June 2024.
Sexual favours are asked from women as early as they are offered the role. I was laughed at many times when I asked details about the role itself
– Kabani, actor
It’s the delayed culmination of a Me Too movement that began back in 2017 when superstar Dileep—Kerala film industry’s Akshay Kumar—was arrested for his involvement in a sexual harassment scandal involving a female actor who was allegedly assaulted for two hours in a moving car. The incident divided the film community. But women from make-up artists to technicians to actors rallied together and formed the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) to advocate for better working conditions and to safeguard workers when sexual crimes such as this took place.
Many of the incidents that are coming out now took place years ago. And now, the Pinayari Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front is being called out for not taking timely action.
The report is a comeuppance, but for the women in Kerala’s film industry, it’s the start of a long fight for equality.
“Harassment starts from the very inception,” said the report by the three-member Hema Committee, which was set up in 2017 after the Dileep incident. “It has come out in evidence that about ten to fifteen individuals in cinema who are in the forefront of the Malayalam film industry constitute a power group and they are controlling the Malayalam film industry,” read the report.
“I am glad that everybody finally knows what happens in the industry. Usually, people see its glamour only,” said Kabani.
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History of inaction
But the vindication of the cast and crew is tempered by a healthy dose of cynicism.
“Will things really change? I really don’t know,” said a female assistant director, who does not wish to be named. A-listers like Mammootty and Mohanlal, a three-time president of the AAMA, are yet to issue statements.
What’s angered the community is the Kerala government and AMMA’s handling of gender inequality, an unchecked casting couch and the accumulation of power by a few men.
“Cinema has always been a male business,” says Arshabharathi (25), a PhD scholar at the Maharajas College in Ernakulam who writes on gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry.
She’s of the view that as a result of this mindset, Malayalam movies, more often than not—are written from the male perspective, directed by men, for moviegoers who are predominantly men. “It’s been normalised, even celebrated.”
This was at play even for the release of the report—the committee was constituted in 2017, and the report was submitted in 2019. But the Kerala government didn’t release it for five years on the grounds that it had sensitive information.
“After receiving the report, which categorically exposed the sexual harassment faced by female actors, the government should have immediately directed the State Police Chief to launch a probe,” former Director of Prosecution, VC Ismail had said to The New Indian Express.
In July, the Kerala High Court had stayed the release of the report by a week after producer Sajimon Parayil moved the court. Subsequently, the court dismissed the plea on 13 August and scheduled the release of the report for the following week.
While all this was unfolding in public, young and veteran actors, and organisations like the WCC were trying to right the many wrongs. In April 2022, a female actor in the Malayalam film industry accused actor-producer Vijay Babu of sexually assaulting her on the pretext of marriage and acting opportunities. After the allegation became public, Babu, in a now-deleted Facebook post where he revealed the actor’s name, stated that it was a mutually consensual relationship. He remained in Dubai and returned to India in June 2022 only after he got anticipatory bail. He attended the AMMA’s annual general body meeting in Kochi, a day before his arrest. The women’s collective immediately protested this.
This was the second major case of sexual assault reported from the Malayalam film industry, but it didn’t grab much attention outside of Kerala. For members of the WCC, it was yet another indication of all that was wrong with the industry. Since 2023, he has acted in four Malayalam movies. The investigation is still ongoing.
If you question any basic thing, including the payment for the work you put in, you will be fired without any explanations
– Assistant director
Actor-producer Dileep’s career, too, has been thriving. He’s been involved in 15 films since 2017. Apart from his involvement in the rape case, he was also accused of conspiring to kill the police officers investigating the assault case in 2021. The State police arrested Dileep in July 2017 and he was granted bail 85 days later. His legion of fans gave him a hero’s welcome.
Intimidated into silence
It’s little wonder, then, that women in the Kerala film industry are hesitant to speak out against the “mafia”, as described by the report. Even the committee members had difficulty collecting testimony from women. The report goes into extensive detail on how the committee pulled out all the stops to encourage women to open up.
“Even though the Committee was getting reliable information that the female junior artists were having a lot of serious problems and we were taking all efforts to get junior artists for ascertaining their problems, we could not get any one of them for examination by the Committee,” the report stated. The ‘reliable information’, the committee noted, included two complaints sent by junior artists to the Minister of Cultural Affairs and the Chief Minister.
One of the strategies the committee adopted was to set up WhatsApp groups for each of the 30 categories of women in cinema—from actors to photographers to hairstylists to technicians. But when the committee posted a message on the dancers’ WhatsApp group, to their “utter surprise,” dancers began to leave the group one by one instead of replying to the message.
“On discreet enquiry, it is understood that the dancers were instructed not to speak anything against anybody in cinema before the Committee,” the report stated.
Ultimately, two dancers appeared before the committee—but stated that they had “absolutely no problem in the film industry since their union was very strong.” But the committee members were not satisfied with their answers.
“We formed an opinion that they were deliberately suppressing the relevant information from the Committee, fearing consequences of losing chances in cinema,” read the report.
The report detailed the experiences of multiple women who were allegedly exploited and abused.
Many in the industry are made to believe that all women in the industry get into the industry or are retained only because they have sex with men In the industry
– Hema Committee report
In one such case, an actor cast in the title role of a movie had to leave because of the uncomfortable situations she was forced to undergo by the director continuously.
“During the time of discussion of the project, she was informed that there would be an intimate scene but the director did not disclose greater details in spite of her repeated requests. He only stated that there is nothing to be scared of and that he will do only as she consents to,” read the report.
Three months later, the day the scene was slated to be shot, the director told her that there would be “nudity”, “lip-lock” and “great exposure of body parts.
“She was forced to do a kissing scene and expose the back part of her body,” read the report. The next day, she was informed that there would be more nudity and a bathtub scene. The report makes no mention of the actor being given the option of a body double. She never did the bathtub scene.
“She left the movie not even claiming the remuneration for the three months she worked,” the report said.
Kabani said many talented actors choose to remain outside the industry, opting for theatre instead.
“I was in a position to stand up for myself as I have income through teaching and theatre,” she said.
A day after the Hema Committee report was published, Kollywood actor Sanam Shetty addressed the media in Chennai and said the neighbouring Tamil film industry too is plagued by the casting couch.
“It has happened to me too. But everyone asked me why I didn’t raise my voice then. It makes me angry,” she said. Shetty has called for all other South Indian film industries as well as Bollywood to take action.
The Telugu film industry has time and again been called out for not just churning out sexist movies, but also for gender inequality.
But one of the most vocal critics of sexism in the Malayalam film industry and WCC founding member, Parvathy Thiruvothu, still has faith in it. “I am not ok with people saying, ‘Malayalam industry is so rotten inside.’ No, we are good inside, which is why we are fixing it. The places where you don’t hear anything about, that’s where we should be worried about,” she said in an interview with NDTV.
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Not just women
The inequality within the Malayalam film industry is pervasive. It extends to junior artists and crew. Men and women who don’t have the clout to fight back.
An assistant director said that a colleague who worked on a recently released movie starring and produced by an A-lister was injured on set but allegedly received no monetary or other support from the superstar’s production house.
Basic infrastructure like toilet facilities are inaccessible in outdoor locations. Women speak of not drinking water, and of the problems they face during menstruation.
The report also lists inhumane working conditions where even minimum wages are not guaranteed to new entrants. They are “treated worse than slaves” with shifts going up to 19 hours.
“It’s not only the women. Everyone who works on a film set is exploited beyond imagination,” said the assistant director who did not want to be named. “Everyone—except the director and a handful of crew and leading actors—are daily wage labourers.”
It’s justified, normalised—as jobs only for the ‘passionate’.
“If you question any basic thing, including the payment for the work you put in, you will be fired without any explanations,” said the assistant director.
One junior artist was fired from a film set for sitting on a chair, according to the report. The assistant director ThePrint spoke to said only the government can bring any real changes, and enforce POSH rules.
“The idea that films are done for social service or for the greater good should be stopped. Because it’s being used to exploit its workers,” he said. adding that the film sets of even the ‘progressive’ or ‘politically correct’ movies would treat its workers like slaves.
“What is the point of making a progressive movie if there are different kinds of food being served for different people and employees don’t even have a place to sit or urinate,” he said.
In 2019, the state government launched a special project to promote female directors.
Helmed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), the scheme has led to the production of several movies directed by women including the critically acclaimed B 32 muthal 44 vare (2023) directed by Shruthi Sharanyam, Divorce directed by Mini IG (2023) and Nishiddho directed by Tara Ramanujam (2022).
One of the crew member of B 32 muthal 44 vare said the initiative is not enough to empower women. It only provides production support.
“What about promotion? Without proper marketing no one will come to see these movies,” he said.
He added that even this movie only had male technical staff as it’s difficult to find women with technical prowess.
“It’s important to have women cameraman. If a woman does cinematography or editing, the whole film will have a different perspective,” he said.
The idea that films are done for social service or for the greater good should be stopped. Because it’s being used to exploit its workers
– Assistant director
A female assistant director said you don’t get opportunities in the industry based on merit or talent. “It purely happens because of friendship and network. To survive you will stay silent,” she said.
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Missing women of Malayalam cinema
Three days before the release of the Hema Committee report, the Malayalam film industry was celebrating. The 2023 film Aattam, released in theatres in January this year, bagged the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Best Editing.
The movie revolves around a drama troupe of 12 men and one woman. Things come to a head when one of the men gropes the woman. After long drawn-out “discussions” on what to do, the men do nothing at all. The woman is the one who has to leave the troupe, knowing there is no justice for her there.
The irony is not lost on anyone. The film is a flicker of hope in the industry that the report dubs as an “exclusive Boys’ Club”.
The first half of the year was dominated by Manjummel Boys, Bharamayugam, Aavesham and Aadujeevitham—all of them told the stories of men. With it came discussions on the missing women of Malayalam cinema.
“More than half of the population of Kerala is women. Nevertheless, this demographic reality does not get reflected in cinematic content. Studies reveal that only 30.9% of speaking characters are women,” wrote Hema Committee member and retired IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari in the report.
She adds this gives the impression that women’s issues do not matter or aren’t significant enough to be portrayed on screen.
“Not every film requires female characters,” said actor Nikhila Vimal in May, adding that it’s better to avoid women characters in movies rather than inserting them for the sake of it.
A Kerala-based scholar of gender studies agrees. “There is no need for characters just for the purpose of having one. But that doesn’t mean you can altogether avoid female characters,” she told ThePrint, adding that if there are many movies without women, it should be discussed.
Even when women scriptwriters try to bring in “gender justice”, they are censored. The report mentions one such incident. “…her script was changed completely by the director…When the scriptwriter protested no one took her seriously.”
And when ‘women-centric’ films do get made, they are most often about the struggle of womanhood. Just look at Aattam, Ullozhukku (2024), The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2021).
Set in a flooded region in Alappuzha, Ullozhukku directed by Christo Tomy, the movie stars Urvashi and Parvathy. It portrays the relationship between a woman and her daughter-in-law after the death of her son. Urvashi bagged her sixth Kerala State Film Award for the movie. The film, while a critical and commercial success, falls into a category that Kumari elaborates on in the report—“Women enslaved by domesticity or carrying the triple burden of domesticity, paid work and caring work”
It was amid this churn that Malayalam actors Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha headed to the Cannes Film Festival with Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. The film, which won the Grand Prix award, was presented as a conversation-ender— “Where are the women in Malayalam cinema? At Cannes.”
But with the release of the Hema Committee report, the industry is back where it started.
The report points out that the first step to a resolution is more women directors, producers, and cinematographers. Kumari’s suggestions for reform include a comprehensive film policy, gender balance in the decision-making bodies, and budgetary support to incentivise movies about gender justice.
An assistant director in the Malayalam film Industry, requesting anonymity, said it’s rare to see a woman in the arts or camera department on film sets. The woman, who has worked in four movies, said she has been relegated to the costume department.
“I have never been assigned art or light department. Even if I go to help there, people won’t let me help with lifting something assuming that I can’t do it,” she said. She also pointed out that women ADs are often employed by directors to “handle” the female actors in the set.
“Jokes with sexual innuendos will be heard in every film set. All sets have more men than women. And I have been stared at when I visited film locations where my friends work,” she added.
With the gaze firmly on Kerala and its film industry, Parvathy said it’s not an expose on the Malayalam film industry alone. “This is just the beginning.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
Malayalam cinema was never progressive in the true sense. It’s mastery over the marketing/business dimension coupled with the large Malayali diaspora made it a formidable force. Originality, artistic senstivity and aesthetics was always missing. Or copied, largely from Bengali cinema – fellow comrades.