Respected Madam Chairperson,
I am reaching out to you as a concerned citizen and a media professional with 44 years of experience. I wish to call your attention to the current concerns in the Malayalam film industry that arose after the publication of the Justice Hema Committee report on women’s working conditions in the Kerala film sector. This marks the first occasion in recent years that a state government has formed a high-level committee to investigate the gender issues in the film industry. The committee, chaired by a distinguished retired High Court judge, comprised a former IAS officer and a celebrated Telugu film star who happens to be well-regarded in Kerala.
Following a High Court intervention two months ago, their findings and recommendations were disclosed to the public. Despite this, the state government, which had been the one to request the report, delayed its publication for more than four years for reasons that were best known to it. With an increasing number of women from the film industry, particularly supporting actresses and crew members, sharing their experiences, numerous senior actors are now under investigation by the state police, which has established a dedicated special team of female officers. The High Court has intervened to guarantee that these women obtain justice and legal safeguards. I believe the Commission is already informed about these developments, given their extensive coverage in both national and international media.
I wish to inform the Commission that women in the film industries of Tamil Nadu, Bengal, and Karnataka have been actively advocating for the establishment of Hema Committee-style bodies in their respective states. The question remains why women in Bollywood (the Hindi film industry) have not expressed such demands publicly, despite the fact that numerous women in the industry have either served or are serving Parliament members.
As you are aware, the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990) was enacted in January 1992 to establish the National Commission for Women as a statutory body. Its objective is to:
- review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women ;
- recommend remedial legislative measures;
- facilitate the redressal of grievances and
- advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
Given that the Commission’s mandate is to address the demands of women in the film industry throughout the nation, it is imperative that the Commission implement women-specific legislation in response to these allegations. These include the following:
- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956;
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION and REDRESSAL) Act, 2013;
- The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013;
- The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
I believe that the Commission is committed to ensuring that “The Indian Woman is secure in her home and outside, fully empowered to access all her rights and entitlements, with the opportunity to contribute equally in all walks of life.” And that its mission is to “strive towards enabling women to achieve equality and equal participation in all spheres of life by securing her due rights and entitlements through suitable policy formulation, legislative measures, effective enforcement of laws, implementation of schemes/policies, and devising strategies for solving specific problems arising from discrimination and atrocities against women.”
I am deeply confident that the Commission possesses the authority to set up a Justice Hema-style committee to assess the working conditions of women in the film industry across the nation or to recommend that all states and even Central government to establish similar committees within their jurisdictions.
I understand that the Government relies on established precedents in these matters. Historically speaking, the British Raj recognized the need for similar oversight. In 1927, a committee was constituted by the Raj, under Diwan Bahadur T. Rangaohariar, an advocate of the Madras High Court, to investigate the film industry and its practices. This came about following closely on the heels of a report filed by the British Social Hygiene Council in 1926.The Council robustly condemned the industry by stating that “In every province and State visited by the Delegation the evil influence of the cinema was cited by educationists and the representative citizens as one of the major factors in lowering the standard of sex conduct and thereby tending to increase the dissemination of disease”. It also observed that actresses were often recruited from the “dancing girl” class, with women of better social standing eschewing the film industry altogether.
Since then, the country has seen numerous governmental committees and public debates on the contentious issue of censorship in the film industry. Sadly, the main emphasis of these discussions has been the extent to which female bodies and sexuality need to be depicted on screen. The film industry has reinforced a simplistic stereotype over the years, equating women in the sector with the “dancing girls” of bygone eras.
Numerous expert groups and scholars have painstakingly uncovered the operations of the film industry, revealing a disquieting pattern of gender exploitation and illicit money. The primary allure for businessmen looking to enter this field has been shaped by these factors.
“In the vibrant atmosphere of the 50s, the cinema began to be viewed as possible art form. Cinema, until this time has been treated, as worst as, a reprehensible, though unavoidable, social catastrophe, at best a barbarous past time of the uncultured,” noted the late author ArunaVasudev in her renowned work, The New Indian Cinema.
The Justice Hema Committee’s conclusions, that call for a nationwide investigation into the status of women in India’s film industry, echo those expressed a century ago. The report highlights serious concerns, including:
- Sexual demands made of women seeking entry into the film industry.
- Sexual harassment, abuse, and assault at the workplace, in transportation, and in accommodations.
- Punishment of women who resist or reject these demands.
- Denial of basic facilities such as toilets and changing rooms on film sets.
- Unsafe working conditions, including during outdoor shoots in remote areas.
- Gender discrimination, particularly in wages and roles.
- Online harassment and a lack of legal awareness among women regarding their rights.
The report also noted that the women are unable to access water or other facilities to change or dispose of sanitary napkins during their menstrual periods. Additionally, it asserted that they are compelled to suppress their inclination to urinate for an extended period of time.
Given the establishment of a commission dedicated to safeguarding women’s rights in the workplace, I believe the time has come to consider launching a national inquiry to investigate the presence of similar conditions in regional film industries across India. Even if it were to disrupt patriarchal traditions and vested interests, such an investigation is likely to inculcate a more supportive environment for women in the film sector.
In my youth, I had aspirations of joining the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune; however, my parents serious expressed reservations, feeling that it might not align with the values of “respectable” families. Although progress has been made since that time, there remains a considerable amount of work ahead, as highlighted by the Justice Hema Committee.
It is high time that the National Commission for Women ensures that there is gender justice in film industry, which by all counts skewed against women going by the general reports and also evidenced by the Justice Hema committee.
I eagerly await a positive response from your end.
Sincerely,
V. K. Cherian
