“The sky is full of mysteries”
Actor Mohanlal QUITS AMMA Amid Hema Committee Report: Massive Shockwave Hits Malayalam Film Industry
The Hema Commission report began with the lines, “The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon.But scientific investigation revealed that the stars do not twinkle, nor does the moon look beautiful.” Many pages of the report were redacted, resulting in several criticisms as it did not mention the names of the culprits. The main highlight of the report was the mentioning of the 15 member power group that allegedly exists in the Malayalam film industry and is controlling it.
Door knocks to AMMA crisis
The Hema Commission report mentioned several cases of sexual harassment against artists and the major highlight was the allegation that several director, actors, producers or even directors used to know these artists’ doors at night, indirectly demanding sexual favours. Reportedly an actress was made to shoot an intimate scene 17 times by a director in revenge for complaining about an incident. Things started to go awry as the actor Siddique was accused of sexual assault by a female actress, followed by the Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra accusing director Ranjith of inappropriate behaviour. More were yet to come, as the actors Jayasurya, Mukesh, Maniyanpilla Raju, Edavela Babu, Baburaj, Sreekumar Menon, VK Prakash, and several others were also accused of sexual harassment. Pressure increased on the AMMA organisation leading to the exit of Mohanlal along with other 17 members from the association. Meanwhile, the actress Parvathy Thirivothu criticised this step as a ‘Cowardly’ move to stay away from their responsibilities. Meanwhile, Jayasurya took to his social media handle and said that the allegations against him are false.
Prithviraj to Tovino Thomas’ react
Talking to the media, Prithviraj Sukumaran said that he was not surprised with the findings of the Hema Commission Report. He mentioned the power group within the industry and said, “Just because I was not affected by the power group, doesn’t mean that there is no such group existing in the industry. If such a force exists, then it should not sustain.” Talking to the media, Tovino Thomas said that the formation of the Hema Committee and investigation are measures that are not commonly seen in other film industries. The ‘ARM’ actor further said that such issues are not exclusive to the Malayalam film industry, but also in other industries. Asif Ali remarked that justice should be granted to the ones who opened up about their struggles in the industry.
Big M’s react
Mohanlal Urges Action on Hema Committee Report: ‘Punish the wrongdoers…’
Several complained on why the Mollywood superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty were keeping mum regarding the issue. Finally, Mohanlal was the first one to break the silence. Talking to the media he responded by saying that he is not part of any power group mentioned in the report. Mohanlal also urged the public to not destroy the Malayalam film industry amid these ongoing issues. Mammootty shared his views on his social media handle with a note that read, “The full version of the Justice Hema Committee report is before the court. Let the police investigate honestly. Let the court decide the punishments. There is no ‘powerhouse’ in cinema.”
Conspiracy against Nivin Pauly
Things took another turn as on September 3, a woman filed a sexual assault case against actor Nivin Pauly. Soon the ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ actor faced the issue confidently and in a media interaction he completely denied the accusations against him. Further the director of ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ director Vineeth Sreenivasan, and other casts of the film, shared their testimonials with proof that Nivin Pauly was at their shoot location on the dates that were mentioned by the complainant. More evidence came in from the artists of ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ in support for Nivin Pauly, who further filed a case doubting that the allegation against him was a part of some conspiracy.
Charmila against Hariharan
Actress Charmila came up against director Hariharan alleging that the filmmaker demanded for ‘adjustments’ for getting casted in the film ‘Parinayam’. She also accused producer MP Mohanan of facilitating her exclusion from the film project as she didnot comply with the demands.
Hidden cameras in Caravans
Tamil actress Radhika Sarathlkumar came forward with a serious allegation that there are hidden cameras placed inside the caravans in Malayalam film sets, which are used to secretly shoot videos of actresses. Radhika said that when she found out about this, she immediately started shouting and contacted the production company’s officials to take an immediate action.
Formation of ‘Progressive Filmmakers Association’
Amid the ongoing issues in the Malayalam film industry, a new association spearheaded by the director Aashiq Abu named ‘Progressive Filmmakers Association’, is being formed. The association is now in it’s inception stage and in another twist, the director Lijo Jose Pellissery who was rumored to be a part of the association, denied the speculations and said, “I support the idea behind such a creative filmmaker’s association, but I am not yet a part of it. In future if I am interested in being a part of the association, I will announce it officially.”
