A new video of Malayalam film professionals has been released to promote the idea of constituting the Internal Committee (IC) in every production in the Malayalam film industry to ensure the safety of women. It was an initiative of a monitoring committee consisting of 27 members from different film organisations in the industry, including the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A.), led by the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce.
Film professionals, including actors Manju Warrior, Tovino Thomas, Nikhila Vimal, and Namitha Pramod, writer-actor Syam Pushkaran, and singer Shahabaz Aman, explain the importance of forming ICs on film sets in the promotional video.
The WCC has been constantly demanding an IC on every film set to address the issues women face. Based on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by WCC, a court in 2022 made it mandatory to form an IC on every movie set and ordered that no film could be registered without providing a certificate that such a cell was constituted.
Further, the court ordered the constitution of committees in accordance with the POSH Act - Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. However, it was not completely implemented.
On September 11, the WCC members met with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and asked the CM to bring the Malayalam film industry under the scope of the POSH Act. The WCC members have also urged the government to be sensitive about the privacy of the women who have spoken about their experiences before the Hema Committee.
The Hema Committee report pointed out the lack of IC and suggested that it should be an independent authority and its members should be people with integrity.
Nearly five years after the submission, the redacted version of the Hema Committee report was made public on August 19, this year. The report revealed the different challenges the women in the Malayalam film industry face. After the release of the report, several women spoke out about the harassment they faced.