Did Kerala government fail to rein in sexual harassment and drug abuse allegations marred Mollywood?

Thiruvananthapuram: The Malayalam film industry has been rocked by the harassments faced by the female actors, which is documented in the recently publicised Justice Hema Committee report. If it is the sexual abuse allegations that has now hit the Malayalam cinema industry, last year the outcry was on the open revelations about the increasing drug abuse.

Despite having a solid report of a committee headed by retired High Court judge Justice K Hema that narrates the untold miseries of harassments faced by many women in the film industry and open revelations by many prominent film personalities on the increasing drug abuse, especially among young actors, the state government seemed to have turned a blind eye towards those allegations.

The priority of the government seemed to be on the economic prospects of the industry. In his initial reactions to the sexual allegations narrated in the Hema committee report, Kerala cultural affairs minister Saji Cheriyan, who also holds the cinema portfolio, was concerned more about how the allegations could affect the flourishing Malayalam film industry than the allegation itself. Pinarayi Vijayan government, which often highlights women's security as priority, has been criticised from various corners for sitting on the Hema committee report for nearly five years.

Even as more and more women come forward to talk about the sexual assault allegedly faced by them at the hands of many known and small actors, it may be interesting to note that some of these allegations are not new and were raised against these people earlier too. For instance, the one against actor turned CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh by casting director Tess Joseph, and Revathy Sampath's allegation against actor Siddique, were raised during the '#MeToo' campaign a few years back. But the government then preferred not to act citing lack of specific complaints.

Last year, the Kerala Film Producers' Association had openly expressed serious concerns over drug abuse in the Malayalam film industry, especially among the youngsters. The association president Renjith and noted producer Siyad Koker had said that some young actors were indulging in undesirable acts like the use of synthetic drugs on film sets and thereby derailing film productions.

Actor Baburaj, who is the current joint secretary of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, had then said that the police and AMMA had the list of substance users in the film industry and police had even chased a known actor's vehicle on the basis of a tip off. Another actor Tini Tom openly stated that he would not wish his son to enter the film field owing to the increased substance abuse in the industry.

Though the police and excise carried out some raids and searches on some of the film sets and hotel room of a director, those remained as just eyewash.

Various announcements of the government like bringing in legislation to regulate the film industry also remained as momentary interventions, with almost no further actions.