Amid mounting furore over the findings of the Hema Committee reports, actor Shanti Priya has questioned the effectiveness of actor Mohanlal’s resignation as Association of Malayalam Movie Artists president.
“There was no point. Mohanlal shouldn’t have resigned from his President position. He could have actually supported the victims, and guided and been there for the present generation,” Shanti Priya, who has worked in over 50 film across South cinema says, adding, “He could have been there and said ‘Yes we are there, trust us, please raise your voice and come to speak to us,’ this should have been the approach. He could have been a pillar for the victims and newcomers.”
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Mohanlal’s resignation, tendered on Tuesday, August 27, followed the disbanding of AMMA’s executive committee. The decision came after serious allegations of sexual assault and misbehavior were raised against some of the committee’s members, including its office-bearers. The executive committee, which was newly elected in June 2024 and was supposed to serve until 2027, faced mounting pressure due to serious allegations involving some of its office-bearers.
Shanti Priya stresses that the issue of harassment is not confined to Malayalam or Bollywood industries alone. “Even men are harassed in our industry, in all the industries. Let’s not only talk about the Bollywood or Malayalam industry,” she says, adding, “I am a pan-India actor and these things happen in all the industries, it’s just that Malayalam aur Bollywood ka bahar aa gaya. Two years later, someone from the Telugu industry can also come up and say something.”
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She emphasises the need for stronger measures to combat sexual abuse and ensure that such incidents do not persist. “When is this going to stop? Everybody has raised their voice and shown their concerns. But now the question arises that how strong the action will be taken and how long will it take where our future generations don’t need to worry. There should be a scare in people that ‘Oh, this committee is there, we shouldn’t take any panga’! Insaan ko scare hona chahiye ki yeh karenge toh kya ho jayega, that scare is missing,” the 54-year-old says adding that while there have been improvements in addressing discrimination since the 80s and 90s, it has not been entirely eradicated.
Reflecting on her own experiences, Shanti Priya reveals that she has been fortunate not to face harassment, partly due to her familial connection with actor Bhanupriya. “I am a sibling of Bhanu Priya, here she has already laid the ground for certain things. People already know that Bhanupriya and her family are out of reach, nobody can touch that family. That is the respect we have earned in the industry. Nobody has ever come to me in that inappropriate manner,” she concludes.
