The Kannada film industry on Monday, opposed the formation of a panel on the lines of the Justice Hema Committee in Kerala stating it would affect ‘business’.
Karnataka State Women's Commission chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary got a taste of the patriarchal mindset prevalent in the Kannada film industry when she called the first meeting to discuss the formation of a Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) committee, at the office of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC).
Subsequent to the Justice Hema Committee report that highlighted the sexual harassment faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, a Bengaluru-based cinema industry group, FIRE - the film industry for rights and equality - had placed a similar demand before the Karnataka government to set up a panel to look into in Sandalwood aka ‘Chandanavana’.
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Accordingly, the Women’s Commission had convened the meeting to gather opinion of all stakeholders in the preliminary meeting. However, the meeting was out of bounds for the media, and saw a poor turnout of women artistes, technicians and support staff as senior Chamber members, especially producers, dominated the discussion. Incidentally, the senior producers argued that the Internal Complaints Committee could not be constituted as Sandalwood was not recognised as an industry.
The industry which produces more than 200 films a year and accounted for 9 per cent of the market share at the Indian box office in October 2022 (it declined to 2 per cent in 2023) saw veterans being dismissive of the fact that women faced several challenges in the industry including sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
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The meeting saw veterans, both male and female actors and producers, turn hostile and defensive to a point that they claimed there has not been a single incident of sexual harassment in the decades-old Kannada film industry and that "casting couch" was non-existent.
When the Women's Commission chairperson gave a 15-day deadline to form the PoSH committee, the film chamber chairman N.M. Suresh said the chamber would consult its legal advisers and executive committee members before responding to the Women's commission on PoSH.
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"There have been no cases of harassment in the Kannada film industry and the Chamber is in the forefront to resolve issues. There is no need for any other platform," Suresh said.
Strangely, veterans like Sa Ra Govind (former KFCC chairman) and Rockline Venkatesh (producer) insisted that the film industry would be in "trouble" if any such committee is formed.
"We don't want a committee similar to the Hema committee in Kerala. We are here to entertain such complaints and then there is the state women's commission. The industry will be in trouble if such a committee is set up," said Govind.
"We are okay with any committee being formed but the fact is it will affect the business in the industry. Hundreds of families are dependent on the industry for their livelihood and they will suffer," said Venkatesh, hinting that film financiers might back out.
The veterans did not elaborate on what "trouble" they anticipated by formation of an anti-sexual harassment committee though some members confided that they feared the films running into trouble and getting shelved, if any woman filed a complaint before the committee.
Some members felt many seniors including women members were in denial and the producers' stand that a committee would ‘affect business’ was nothing short of a veiled threat. A senior actress who was against a separate panel, had even remarked that producers were generous in spending money to make actresses comfortable on the sets. However, the Commission Chamber noted many women staff complained of lack of changing rooms, toilets and water facilities. In fact, one complainant had mentioned that she was advised not to drink water for the whole day as there was no toilet near the shooting spot.
"If some women claim they have no issues, it is good for them. But those aggrieved, will speak out. Many people aren't even aware of what abuse is. The fact that we are now discussing a panel is itself an achievement. I got no help from the chamber when I approached them in a check bounce case. So, I feel there should be a panel as there are more grave concerns of the women working in the industry. Even today, they shush-ed me when I got up to speak. The men are dismissive. Exploitation is not just sexual assault. I have witnessed odd things while shooting the scenes like bad touch and vulgar words. We expect the workplace to be professional as it brings safety. We are here to discuss prevention and not just redressal. We would like to tell them that sexual harassment was the problem and not the woman raising her voice against it," said Neetu Shetty.
Choudhary stood her ground and asserted that PoSh was not optional or mandatory. “Formation of the committee is necessary as it is in the gazette. We have given a 15-day deadline to form the committee. The proposed panel is to look into cases of sexual harassment and lack of basic facilities for women. I was hoping to meet a large number of women representatives – from helpers, junior dancers, dubbing artistes, playback singers, makeup artistes, technical staff, actresses, directors and producers. However, we will conduct a confidential and individual survey and submit a report to the government before recommending a panel similar to the Hema Committee.”
Kavitha Lankesh, founder-president of FIRE, said, "We will continue our fight for a PoSH committee because women will come forward to complain only if there is a proper platform and redressal mechanism. We hardly got to speak at the meeting.”
Elaborating on the tone and tenor of the discussion, Lankesh said, “The meeting panned out as expected. The chamber gave us no opportunity to speak and they were trying to suppress our opinions. The women commission chairperson saw it first-hand today. The Chamber said they were running the industry for 90 years and there has been no problem so far. But the same people had dismissed a case of harassment a few years back, telling the woman to make up with the alleged abuser by shaking hands with him. The older generation of women considered silence to be the only option. But the younger generation is vocal about such oppression or harassment. We want aggrieved women to come forward and complain and for that an unbiased committee is necessary.”
What has alarmed the women members is the stand of the chamber that formation of a committee would deprive women of any opportunity in the industry as film financiers would not ‘risk’ taking the women artistes on board.
“The chamber has been adamant that a committee is not needed. They say no producer would cast a woman even in a mother’s role as she might accuse them of exploitation. I see it as a threat. Women safety is seen as a hindrance to business and it is almost like threatening women that they will go ahead making films without a female cast. As it is, there is a trend of films that promote misplaced ideas of masculinity, the testosterone driven films like Animal where the hero goes on a rampage. Women have no significance in the films. The women who complain are seen as flawed or troublesome. The #MeToo case (Shruti Hariharan case) was not a defeat. I see it as a victory though many don’t see it that way. The instances of harassment will come down when the aggrieved gets justice in the courts too. We have received many complaints and we plan to set up a helpline too. But an unbiased panel is imperative,” said Lankesh.
