Rape, harassment, exploitation, threats… An explosive investigation report, which has just been made public, heavily condemns the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala (southwest of the country), nicknamed “Mollywood” because the films there are shot in the Malayalam language.
What you need to know
- A commission of inquiry was set up in 2017 following the abduction and gang rape of an actress in the Indian state of Kerala. A report was submitted to the government in 2019.
- The document was only made public on August 26. It denounces a systemic practice of aggression and abuse in the Kerala film industry.
- About twenty complaints were filed following the publication of the report.
Released on August 26, the 235-page document denounces a systemic practice of aggression and abuse in the industry, claiming that Mollywood is controlled by a “mafia of powerful men” and that sexual harassment of women is “endemic” there.
We learn that young actresses are forced to have sexual relations in order to get roles, a “promotion couch” driven by the bigwigs in the industry – revelations that are reminiscent of the #metoo crisis that shook Hollywood and caused the downfall of producer Harvey Weinstein.
It also denounces the lack of changing rooms and toilets for supporting actresses on many shoots, putting them at risk when they isolate themselves for privacy, as well as the aggressive solicitations that actresses face. One of them recounts how she had to block the door of her hotel room with a sofa and chairs to prevent a director from forcing his way in.
These numerous testimonies have since encouraged other women to pour out their hearts, while until now a “psychosis of fear” reigned, according to the report.
PHOTO WILLIAM WEST, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Indian actress Parvathy Thiruvothu on the red carpet at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night at the Palais Theatre on August 16
I feel like these women are stepping forward because they suddenly felt like they had a chance to be believed.
Parvathy Thiruvothu, Mollywood film star and founder of the Women in Cinema collective, to fight against sexism in the industry
The Hema Commission of Inquiry was set up in 2017 following the abduction and gang rape of an actress. The panel submitted its report to the Kerala government in 2019, which had avoided making it public until now due to “privacy concerns it raised”.
Isha Saha Bhatnagar, a master’s student at Concordia University and an expert on gender and social justice issues in Indian cinema, believes instead that the information was “suppressed to protect prominent male figures in Mollywood,” some of whom are now in very bad shape.
PHOTO ARUN CHANDRABOSE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Mollywood movie posters in Cochin (Kochi) on August 30
A “historic” crisis?
The concrete impacts of this crisis were not long in being felt in Mollywood, a powerful regional industry whose production is estimated at around 200 films per year and which concerns a pool of 35 million people.
Following the release of the report, the Association of Malayalam Film Artists (AMMA) was dissolved and around 20 complaints were filed against big names in the industry.
These include director Ranjith Balakrishnan, as well as actors Siddique and Mukesh Madhavan, the latter also being a regional MP.
According to the website The South First, Mollywood is now fearing a hit to the box office as four mega-productions are set to hit the screens in Kerala.
The Mumbai film industry (Bollywood) had been shaken in 2018 by similar revelations, with a relatively limited impact. But according to Parvathy Thiruvothu, the current crisis would on the contrary be a “historic moment” and a “game changer” that “shakes everything”.
Not just cinema
This new scandal revives the broader issue of sexism, misogyny and violence against women in India, while the country is still in shock from the rape and murder of a doctor, which occurred at the beginning of August in a hospital in Calcutta.
PHOTO DIBYANGSHU SARKAR, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Doctors demonstrate to demand the resignation of the city’s police commissioner and condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata on September 2.
For Ananya Ray, deputy editor of the website Feminsim in India, it is clear that “the movement must not stop at Mollywood, because cinema is not the only medium that suffers from systemic sexist abuse.”
The journalist insists in particular that judicial inquiries and investigations should be extended to other professional fields, such as medicine, university, law and administration.
According to Isha Saha Bhatnagar, these fundamental changes are likely to come more quickly in Kerala, which has the highest school enrolment rate in the country, including among women (around 92%).
She doubts, however, that the rest of the country will transform overnight.
“The patriarchal system is so deeply embedded in the Indian way of life and culture that it will take much more than these crises. It will take more education on consent, more sex education, more social awareness… It may take decades for mindsets to change…”