Hema Committee Report: How Leading Malayalam Actors Responded

On August 19, after a prolonged waiting of five years, Kerala government has released the Justice Hema Committee report. The Committee was constituted in 2019 to look into the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The 233-page report exposes the sexual harassment and exploitation, power groups, and mafia control existing in the industry.

Meanwhile, reactions over the report is generating buzz and initiating discussions on all news media platforms and social media. As there are varied opinions emerging in favour or against the findings and various aspects of the report, what is the take of leading actors from the industry on the same – let’s take a look.

Mammootty

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Urvashi

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Mohanlal

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Suresh Gopi

“A commission was established, and their findings have now been released. There’s no need to dwell on the delay—what what matters is that the report is here. Various organizations will collaborate to address the government’s demands and implement necessary changes to demands and implement necessary changes to improve the industry. This isn’t unique to cinema; similar issues exist in fields like banking and others. However, we are committed to finding a solution and utilizing the Hema Committee’s recommendations to make the necessary adjustments,” actor-politician told the Indian Express.

Jagadish

Actor and Vice President of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) extended apology for delayed response on behalf of the association and said he welcomes the the Hema Committee Report. “A comprehensive investigation should be held and AMMA or Producers association or Chambers cannot evade from that … They cannot dismiss these complaints by saying it is one-of-a-kind incident. Perpetrators should be punished in ideal way,” he said.

Manju Warrier

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Prithviraj Sukumaran

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Fahadh Faasil

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Dulquer Salmaan

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Parvathy Thiruvothu

Actress and founder member of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) told NDTV that the release of report as a “bitter-sweet” achievement; “. . . why I say it is bitter-sweet because most of us did go and depose it in the front of the committee. We have to speak up on so many things that otherwise in other interviews we have said and things that are under confidentiality. These are not happy things to read. These are not happy things to corroborate. And now, it being in an official document definitely brings more seriousness to it and we feel quite vindicated frankly. But, I would say that this is just the beginning,” she added.

Tovino Thomas

“I also spoke to Hema Commission, they had called me also to understand the situation in the movies I have worked. Now the report has come out and it’s 255 pages I think. It’s not in common man’s language, so not everyone could read it and understand it. Even I couldn’t grasp it completely. but if someone has done something wrong they should get the deserved punishment,” actor told NDTV.

Nimisha Sajayan

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Asif Ali

“Equality should be ensured for everyone in the industry and we should stand with those who gave their statements. I will have to study the report further.. but as a colleague I stand with all those women who went through the ordeal. Their problems have to be resolved,” actor told the media.

Anna Ben

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Anaswara Rajan

(Has not commented on the report yet.)

Aside from promoting movies, many actors are active on social media to voice their opinion on issues but not reacted to the report yet.

The Hema Committee

The committee was formulated after the WCC members met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the wake of the 2017 actress assault incident. Helmed by retired Justice K Hema, veteran actor Sarada and former IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari were other two members of the commission. The committee submitted its report to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in December 31, 2019.

Since the government has only made public a redacted version of the report, the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the former to produce a copy of the entire report.