The probe by the Kerala Police into the abduction and assault of the young actress would not have reached the stage where it stands now had it not been for the alertness shown by the women in the film industry. Their bid to use their collective power to end male domination in all fields of the industry was fuelled by the horror incident orchestrated by the men who feel supreme and the women who take the brunt of it. They formed an outfit — Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) and presented a petition to the Chief Minister about the problems they were facing in their lives and jobs due to a dominantly male industry.
“The WCC may not succeed in eradicating gender imbalances prevailing in the film industry but it is a start. They have already sent across a message to their ‘masters’ that they are not ready to put up with ‘anything’ and that it is time that such atrocities stopped,” psychologist-journalist BS Panicker tells you. It may not be a direct result of this awakening taking place in the industry but signs are positive. “Girls have started to question the system where the men who issued orders could get away with anything,” he points out.
last week saw a young actress lodging a complaint with the police against young director Jean Paul lal, son of actor-director lal, and some others for outraging her modesty by using a body double for a scene in his new film Honey Bee 2. lal has said that they would fight the case in court but legal experts are of the opinion that it will not be an easy battle for him or his son. Reports from the industry indicate that more such cases could come up soon. “Most men still tend to think that they are not doing anything wrong when they slap an order on the women working for them. They want us to take it as normal behaviour. This can’t be put up with forever. I don’t want to refer to other evils in the sector,” an active WCC volunteer, says.
Sociologists point out that women, especially educated ones, have started showing boldness and are fighting the injustice meted out by men not just in films but elsewhere too. For example, just the other day, a senior male journalist was suspended from a major TV channel in Kerala.
He was arrested on a complaint lodged by one of a woman colleague whom he had allegedly abused sexually and exploited financially by promising marriage.
“I don’t think this would have happened a few months back. It is a positive change in a State like Kerala where thousands of women and girls are being sexually persecuted every year,” Panicker says.