The Kerala government published the much-awaited Hema Commission report on the Malayalam film industry on Monday, which revealed several instances of assault on female actors in the industry.

The report shed light on the widespread and persistent sexual harassment faced by women in the Malayalam cinema, with many alleging they were subjected to unwanted advances even before commencing work.

The Hema Commission, consisting of former High Court judge Justice Hema, veteran actor Sharada and retired IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari, was formed in 2017, after an assault case linked to actor Dileep.

The report stated that the production controller or whoever gives a role in cinema first approaches the woman/girl or, even if it’s the other way around, the woman is told that she has to make “adjustments” and “compromise”.

The words are very familiar among women in the Malayalam industry, and they are asked to make themselves available for “sex on demand”, the report stated.

Members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an organisation started for women after the actress’ assault case, stated that it was not the only case in the history of Malayalam cinema, but it was the only reported incident. They had submitted a petition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting him to form a committee to study the issues faced by women in the film industry.

Based on the petition, the Hema Commission was formed, and it was entrusted to study issues like sexual harassment and gender inequality in the industry and provide solutions to it.

The final report was submitted in 2019, but the state government did not release it as it reportedly contained “sensitive information”.

The state information commission had later directed the government to issue the report to RTI applicants, who were journalists of various media houses. The state information commission said in an order to remove the parts that reveal the identity of the people. A total of 63 pages of the 295-page report have been omitted as they contained sensitive information.

Several women said they take their families or close relatives with them as they don’t feel safe to stay alone in the accommodation arranged for them, the Hema Commission said.

“In most of the hotels where they are staying, the doors are knocked by the men working in cinema who would be mostly under Intoxication. Many women have stated that knocking will not be polite or decent but, they repeatedly bang at the door, by force. On many occasions, they felt that the door would collapse and men would make an entry into the room by force”, the report said.

The report also stated an example of how an actress had to work with one such person, who played her husband in a movie.

“…on the next day, she had to work with the same man as husband and wife, hugging each other. That was terrible. Because of what was done to her during shooting, her resentment and hatred had reflected on her face, during shooting. Seventeen retakes had to be taken for just one shot. The director criticised her for the situation,” the Hema Commission report stated.

The report further said that many men and women were publicly threatened and defamed by publishing various comments and posting certain vulgar pictures and videos, on Facebook and other social media. They are subjected to trolling also and many messages are circulated through WhatsApp, the report stated.

“Various remarks of sexual colour are made in public against them and even photos of penis and other pictures are posted on the wall of the female artists, followed by comments that they will be raped etc., to ridicule, threaten, demoralise and humiliate the female artist,” the Hema Commission said.

The report states that it found evidence that around 10 to 15 men, “who are in the forefront of the Malayalam film industry” constitute a “power group” and are “controlling the Malayalam film industry”.

“As per evidence, certain actors in cinema (some of them are also producers, distributors, exhibitor or directors) — all male– gained enormous fame and wealth and they are in full control the whole Malayalam film industry now. Many men in the industry stated before us emphatically that many individuals were banned from cinema which include even famous actors,” it stated.

The report further said that if a member of the “power group” was not pleased with someone in the movie, “however efficient he may be, because of even personal prejudice”, all the members of the power group join hands and the person is prevented from working in movies.

Hema Commission states that it was surprised to find that several men had also suffered a lot of issues in the industry and many people, including some very prominent artists, were unauthorisedly banned from working in movies for a long time.

“It was shocking to know that the sole reason for such unauthorised banning was due to very silly reasons. They would have knowingly or unknowingly ‘invited wrath of one or other person from the powerful lobby in the industry,” the report said.

“Therefore, men generally were hesitant /scared to speak against the industry, fearing that any leaking of the information given by them will adversely affect their future chances in cinema,” the report added.

The WCC members requested the Hema Commission to recommend the formation of an Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) in every production unit of cinema and the Association of Malayatam Artists (AMMA), in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Vishakha Versus State of Rajasthan and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act).