Unofficial ‘bans’ are handed out on a whim to anyone who is likely to speak about the issues in Malayalam cinema or even dissatisfy the ‘mafia’ that controls the film industry, reveals the Hema Committee report, which was released on Monday, August 19. A powerful group of men in Malayalam cinema decide these ‘bans’, which would prevent women as well as men who do not toe the line from getting work.

The Hema Committee, which was constituted in 2017 to identify the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, submitted its report in 2019, which was released four and half years later on Monday with several parts redacted.

While some of the major issues revolve around the sexual harassment women face in the industry, the report also reveals that women are silenced under threat of ban on working in the industry. Men too face this risk, some of the witnesses that the Committee spoke to revealed.

A lobby of 10 to 15 men — unofficially dubbed the ‘mafia’ by certain actors — are behind this process of illegal bans, the report says. This is a group of producers, directors, and actors – all male – who both control the industry and threaten those who do not follow their dictates. The report says that several people, including actors, directors, and producers, have faced unofficial bans from this mafia for minor reasons. Anyone who displeased the power group even for personal reasons can find themselves othered by the industry. And none of this is ‘official’ — the entire mechanism works by word of mouth and in secrecy, the report reveals. 

The existence of such a power group is one of the reasons the Hema Committee is against having Internal Committees (IC) to look into sexual harassment complaints as per the Sexual Harrassment of Women in the Workplace (Protection, Prevention and Redressal) Act. Any internal body will be influenced by the mafia and will not be able to actually protect women, the Committee believes.

Any person who utters a word against them will be “wiped off the industry”. A woman can be banned even for going to the IC in the first place, the Committee suggests.

Women who are otherwise bold were afraid to talk about their bad experiences at work because “they would be banned from cinema and subjected to other harassments, since such persons are powerful in cinema and all men in cinema will stand together by them.”

The report also makes note of a prominent male actor who once called this lobby of men a “mafia” and lost work not just in cinema but also in television series. The actor’s frankness was frowned upon by the power group and he began to lose work. “Even though he is one of the best actors in the industry, he could be kept away, when the 10 to 15 joined hands to ban him from the cinema,” the report says.

Many people who deposed before the Committee said that even a silly reason, such as a light boy not getting up on seeing one of these powerful men, is enough to offend them and throw the ‘offenders’ out of a job. “If a member from the power group is not pleased with someone in cinema (whether he be an actor, producer, director or anyone in cinema, however efficient he may be), because of even personal prejudice, all the members of the power group join hands and prevent the person from working in cinema.”

Bans not in writing

Such bans are mostly not given in writing. It is spread by word of mouth, including threats to producers of new movies if a certain actor is cast in their film. The mafia may also refuse to issue a no-objection certificate from the film chamber of commerce, which could prevent the release of the film. Since there is no document or proof for such ‘bans’, the aggrieved persons cannot approach courts against it.

One of the witnesses the Committee spoke to said that the ban can also come from certain associations and unions jointly, without any legal standing. The witness had taken a stand that ‘agreements’ should be executed, which he said was not to the liking of certain members of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A.). After this he lost opportunities not just in Malayalam cinema, but calls were made even to a Hindi film director who was going to cast him to deny him the role. However, the director still cast him. Another film director who supported such an agreement (between actors and producers) also faced the wrath of the power group, after which he was reduced – from doing 3-4 movies every year – to not being able to work with known artists or technicians.

Producer controllers also have a role in getting a person banned, a witness stated. They may tell the producer that such and such a person is not available or that he or she will not come on time or if it is a woman, say that she is “me-too person”. Even if the producer had originally proposed the actor, the production controller may thwart it and the actor may not even come to know about it.

One banned person who spoke to the Committee revealed that he had to become a producer, exhibitor, and distributor later, because “by merely being an actor, a person cannot be powerful in the industry.”

WCC members are frequently banned

Another common target of ‘bans’ are members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), formed in the aftermath of the sexual assault of a woman actor in Kochi in 2017, by whose efforts the Hema Committee was constituted in the first place. For one, they speak out about the issues they face in the industry. For another, the fact that they are members of the WCC itself works against them.

A hairstylist, who too is a member of the WCC, complained about facing a ban from a union for working without a membership card. The report says that the only member of the WCC who continues to enjoy opportunities in cinema is one who continuously denied that there is any issue for women in the industry. She claimed that she has not even heard of sexual harassment in Malayalam cinema. However, the Committee believes that she is not speaking up against men in the industry so as not to get ousted and that “no value can be attached to the evidence” of such an actor.

Without naming Dileep, the Committee also makes note of the incident of a prominent actor going against a director after signing an agreement with him, and going to the extent of dissolving the union that stood by the director, the Malayalam Cinema Technicians Association. MACTA was later replaced by the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA). The director who spoke against the actor faced a ban for years and artists who agreed to work with him were also threatened with bans.

The report also notes that while such threats of unofficial bans had existed in the old days, it was not implemented. Now if a woman asks for higher remuneration or is outspoken, she is avoided.

The Committee strongly recommends halting such bans, writing that no person shall directly or indirectly prevent another person from working in cinema.