In South Indian Cinema, a #MeToo Reckoning Comes Roaring Back

Even before the #MeToo movement rocked Hollywood and rippled around the globe, the film industry in India’s prosperous and progressive south had embarked on a reckoning of its own.

In early 2017, a superstar of Malayalam film was accused of hiring criminals to abduct and rape a female star in a brutal case of retaliation. That prompted the government of the state of Kerala, where the Malayalam film industry is based, to conduct an investigation into what had long been an open secret: that the male-dominated cinema was rife with sexual abuse and harassment.

The government promised safer work spaces for women in the industry. The actor went to jail, then got out on bail as his high-profile trial continued. The investigation’s report was completed in 2019 but never made public, and the movement fizzled out before any justice was served — a sign of the widespread impunity in India for sexual violence and harassment.

Now, the movement has gotten a second wind, after media organizations and others filed a petition that forced the report’s release.

The report, while redacted to protect the privacy of both the victims and the powerful industry figures they accuse, offers damning evidence of widespread gender discrimination and sexual misconduct.

Exploitative practices, like seeking sexual favors for entry into the field and landing movie roles, were prevalent. Basic safety for women, such as separate bathrooms or changing rooms, was neglected. Gender pay gaps were large, and female actors, technicians, makeup artists and dancers were deprived of legally binding contracts.

In the roughly two weeks since the report’s release, more victims have emerged with more stories of abuse. Some of the most powerful men in Malayalam cinema have resigned from their posts in industry organizations, in some cases because they were directly accused of sexual misconduct and are facing criminal investigations.

The #MeToo revival in the Malayalam film industry has come as the country is gripped by protests over another gruesome case of sexual violence in the workplace: the rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata after a long shift at work.

The release of the report has offered a measure of vindication for the victims and other women who spoke up years ago and faced widespread retaliation, with many struggling to find work, while the accused actor, known as Dileep, remained free and continued on to even bigger hits.

The report, which was compiled by what is known as the Hema Committee, named for the female judge who led the inquiry, turned to poetic language to describe the ugly reality among the industry’s stars. “The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon,” the report said. “But scientific investigation revealed that stars do not twinkle, nor does the moon look beautiful.”

The Kerala government has faced severe criticism over its handling of the matter. The state’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, is seen as having protected the rich and powerful in the film industry by having the report withheld. While Malayalam cinema is much smaller than the Hindi cinema of Bollywood, its leaders and stars wield enormous influence in South India.

The rot in Malayalam cinema remained under the surface even as it projected a progressive image and tackled sensitive subjects that mainstream Bollywood and India’s other regional cinemas did not.

J. Devika, a feminist historian who studies culture in modern Kerala, said that the report would merely be “eyewash” unless it led to justice and change.

“Their inaction since its release and their reluctance to release it in the first place shows a lack of political will to bring about any change,” she said of the Kerala government. The government, she added, is “politically progressive but socially and culturally conservative.”

Two news organizations, The News Minute and Newslaundry, collaborated on an investigation that detailed how Dileep, the actor, had gotten away with what they called the “orchestrated nightmare” of the alleged abduction and rape. The news organizations said the case showed how deeply rooted misogyny was, even in a seemingly progressive state.

Dileep has repeatedly cast himself as a victim, both questioning the credibility of the survivor’s accusations and minimizing her success and talent. Seven years later, the legal case against him is still pending trial.

Since the report’s release, the entire executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists has resigned. That organization, the regional cinema’s premier organizing body, is accused of maintaining a silence that enabled abusers. So are several big-name male stars.

Female artists have banded together to form a collective that is pushing for a wider investigation into problems in the industry. Their efforts saw that an Internal Complaints Committee, mandated under an Indian law on sexual harassment in workplaces, was set up on film sets too.

But members of the collective said that female actors and groups like theirs were left to bear the “unfair burden” of seeking basic dignity and safety.

“We are film professionals, not activists,” said Bina Paul, one of the founding members of the collective. “The onus is on the civil society, as much as on the women, to speak up.”

Mujib Mashal contributed reporting.