Manjummel Boys director Chidambaram says other industries’ women ‘won’t come out’ against abuse like Malayalam cinema FilmyMeet

Chidambaram, best known for directing Manjummel Boys, says the Malayalam film industry set a precedent with the Hema Committee report. At a summit hosted by ABPLive, he noted that the film industry is now a ‘much safer’ place for women. (Also Read: Rajinikanth meets the Manjummel Boys team in Chennai; they call him a ‘superstar’)

‘I’m proud of the WCC’

Chidambaram was asked about the jarring contrast between the progressive films the Malayalam film industry makes versus the findings of exploitation and abuse of women in the Hema Committee report.

He replied, “As far as I know, it’s much safer for women in the film industry now because the Hema Committee report was based on incidents at least five years ago. But nobody will come out like our women did; maybe it’s something in the water. We set a precedent, and it’s been a chain reaction in Tamil, Telugu and other film industries.”

The director also said he’s proud of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) that pushed the Kerala government to publish the findings in the committee report. He said, “We brought out our dirty linen…I’m proud of the WCC for doing a fantastic job of bringing this out and making it a much safer environment for women. Women deserve to feel secure while working in any industry.”

A 269-page report was submitted to the government in 2019, but the government made it public only in August this year. The report revealed an all-male power group of 15 top industry people, including directors, producers, and actors. The report’s fallout led to several cases and the dissolution of the powerful artistes body in the industry.

Upcoming work

After the success of Manjummel Boys, based on a real incident from 2006, Chidambaram has signed films with Phantom Studios in Hindi and Mythri Movie Makers in Telugu. He revealed at the summit that while the actors for these films haven’t been finalised yet as they’re still in development, they will feature ‘big stars’.