A committee named the Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government in the year 2017 following an assault incident involving a female actor. At that time, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) also played a role. The committee, in its report, has castigated the Malayalam film industry for being a horrible workplace for women, be they artists or technicians, dancers or junior artists.
Have the exposes made by the Hema Committee tarnished the reputation of Mollywood? There is no definite answer. Some individuals opine that Mollywood has already covered itself in glory by allowing discussions surrounding the report. Others argue that the industry must act on the findings and weed out the culprits within for it to be taken seriously.
On her part, singer Chinmayi Sripaada compares and contrasts Mollywood with Kollywood. "After the Hema Committee report, men accused of sexual harassment have resigned in Malayalam Cinema. In Tamil Nadu, men who are open abusers like Radha Ravi remain the President of the Dubbing Union, get hired time and again, retaining power to ban women speaking up while the Chief Minister and other politicians across TN will platform a molester named by at least 20 women," she says. Her lament suggests that Mollywood fares better in relative terms.
Journalist Sajin Shrijith suggests that those who make progressive movies are not necessarily high-thinking in real life. "Just because a certain film industry makes "progressive" cinema doesn't necessarily mean all the people involved in making them are so. One has to be extremely delusional to believe that some of these actors and filmmakers are driven by genuine intentions," he writes.
