The assault on a young frontline actress in February, the refusal by the cine workers’ outfits to respond to it appropriately, statements made by leading male actors insulting the assault victim and the inability of the actors’ association to take action against them have forced the women working in the Malayalam film industry to launch a bid to end male domination in the sector.
The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an association formed by women working in the Malayalam film industry just a few weeks ago, has petitioned the Kerala State Commission for Women against the male actors who had issued statements humiliating the assault victim as a first step in the Malayalam movie women’s war against male domination in the industry.
Most actresses and other woman film workers are irked by the refusal of the Kerala cine actors’ outfit, Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), to even discuss in its forums the issue of the assault on the actress and to seek explanation from the male actors who had issued humiliating statements against her. AMMA had held a general body meeting on Thursday.
“However, not even a single woman film worker had shown the courage to question this serious lapse at the meeting and that proves the intensity of male domination in AMMA and the Kerala film industry. This situation should change. We are not sure as to how this will be possible but we should work for a change,” said a leading actress who is also a member of the collective.
leaders of the collective are accusing — though not openly — top leaders of the actors’ association, including a lok Sabha member and two MlAs, of spending more time for defending superstar Dileep, whom the police had questioned for 13 long hours in connection with the alleged conspiracy behind the attack on the actress than discussing the issue of the attack.
Dileep had the other day shocked the Kerala society by alleging that the victim and her tormentor were close friends while a frontline male actor
while commented through a FB post that the victim should undergo polygraph test and another revealed her identity. However, AMMA has so far refused to seek explanation from them enraging the actresses’ community.
Rima Kallingal, a leading actress and a driving force behind the women’s collective, says that their outfit may get isolated as it goes on with its effort to put an end to the rampant gender inequality in the film industry but they are determined to continue the struggle. “AMMA has pledged support to us but it is yet to be seen what it will do in the future,” she told the media.
WCC sources said they were seeking to bring about a situation where women get chances in movies solely on the basis of their capabilities. “A situation should come where there should be no godfather in the field who would claim that it was he who had introduced a particular actress,” Rima said in reference to Dileep’s reported claim that it was he who had brought the attacked actress to the film field.
“Male domination has always been the rule in the Malayalam film industry. Many actresses have written about the hazards they had gone through for trying to oppose this. One of the main concerns of AMMA should have been this but instead it has become the protector of male interests,” said a reputed film critic.
Meanwhile, sources said that the State Women’s Commission had taken the cine women’s complaint seriously and would serve notice on actors Dileep, Saleem Kumar and Aju Varghese who had made insulting statements against the young actress who was kidnapped and assaulted in a car by a gang as she was on her way to Kochi from Thrissur on the night of February 17.