WCC members disappointed at Hema Committee's recommendations, terms it vague

Thiruvananthapuram: Members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) are disappointed at the meeting called by the government of Kerala on Wednesday to discuss the Justice Hema Commission report.

As per a report by The News Minute, none of the attendees seemed to have gotten clarity on the recommendations and how they will be implemented.

One of the recommendations made by the Hema Committee report on problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry is 'equal remuneration'.

However, Padmapriya, an actor and member of the WCC who attended the meeting described the recommendations as a little disappointing and termed them as too loosely worded.

The actor added that the summary of recommendations was too vague for any of the participants to proceed with a discussion.

"One of the points was about building two or more theatres in the taluk, how is that connected with the safety of the women in the industry?" Padmapriya asks.

Taking the context of the 2017 sexual assault of a woman actor in Kochi, the committee has recommended that drivers with criminal backgrounds should not be engaged and vulgar or double meaning comments should not be made to women.

However, the actor opined that it does not lead to the conclusion that only drivers come with criminal backgrounds and added that recommendations like 'double meaning comments should not be made to women' are too obvious and do not need stating.

"It is a fact-finding committee. But on what basis will one accept the recommendations, when even the people in the industry cannot figure out what they mean," she adds.

She further demanded that the Hema Committee report should also be brought out like the Adoor committee report that studied how to improve the state of Malayalam cinema.

Bina Paul, film editor, artistic director of IFFK, and WCC member added that there are ways of maintaining the confidentiality and still publishing the report after the minister reiterated the government's stand on not publishing the same.

At the end of several hours of the meeting – a few minutes of it attended by Minister for Culture Saji Cheriyan – all the participants left without clarity, deciding to meet again two weeks later.

It has been two years and four months since the committee was formed, and the first meeting to discuss the report between the government and members of the WCC, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A.) and others, was called on May 4, 2022.

In the time that passed, there were a lot of discussions on making the Hema Committee report public but the government and Justice Hema were of the view that it cannot be done since it was confidential in nature and the women who shared their traumatic experiences would not want to reveal their identity.

However, the WCC has been asking to publish the findings without compromising the privacy of the women.