The ABCs of Hema Committee report — India’s biggest #MeToo impact
Resignations of stars from powerful film industry bodies. Apologies from men who have sexually harassed women. Discourse that cuts across all sections of society. One of India’s southernmost states, Kerala, is witnessing never-seen-before incidents, thanks to one document: the Justice Hema Committee’s report on the working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry. This is the biggest #MeToo impact story coming out of India — perhaps even bigger than the changes that the Harvey Weinstein scandal wrought in Hollywood. And the shockwaves from Kerala are reverberating across film industries in the rest of India.
So what exactly is the Hema Committee report, why was the panel instituted, and how are big names like Mohanlal involved in this case? From A for A.M.M.A., D for Dileep, M for Mafia, to W for Women in Cinema Collective, here’s the A to Z of India’s most significant #MeToo story to date.
a.
for A.M.M.A.
The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A.) is the biggest film industry body for Malayalam movie actors.
All the office bearers of A.M.M.A. resigned on August 27, 2024, taking ‘moral responsibility’, “in the context of the sexual harassment accusations levelled against some of the officials of the administrative committee of AMMA in the media after the release of the Hema committee report.”
A.M.M.A.’s wholesale resignation comes after years of not just denial but active support for men named as predators in the industry.
Actor Siddique, who was the general secretary of A.M.M.A., has been accused of rape. Another office bearer, Baburaj, is also accused of sexual assault.
Several prominent A.M.M.A. members, including Mukesh, Edavela Babu, Maniyampilla Raju, and Jayasurya, have also been accused of sexual violence.
Read: Mohanlal and A.M.M.A. did not redeem themselves — they had to go
b.
for Betrayal
A prominent Malayalam actor was sexually assaulted by a group of men in a moving vehicle in February 2017, at the height of her career.
The assault was allegedly contracted by another actor — Dileep — because he was angry with the female actor for personal reasons. [See: D for Dileep]
The female actor, betrayed by men in her own circle, is fighting the case in court under trying circumstances. Meanwhile, the assault triggered widespread anger among women in the Kerala film industry, many of whom came together to form the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). [See: W for Women in Cinema Collective].
WCC demanded action from the Kerala state government, which then formed the Justice Hema Committee to conduct a deep study into the working conditions of women in the film industry.
Read: Fighting back without a support system is unimaginable: Actor Bhavana interview