Top Kannada film body opposes Hema-like panel; women artistes, others fuming

All they wanted was some hope for ‘justice’ and treatment of women on a par with the males in the Kannada film industry. But the KFCC members were in no mood to listen.

Their demand for a panel headed by retired justice got lost in the din that broke out in the meeting, as the members of the film body fiercely opposed the idea of constituting a committee to check sexual abuse.

While N M Suresh, KFCC president, expressed skepticism about the “productivity of such a committee," similar to the Hema Committee, industry leaders, including producer Rockline Venkatesh and Sa Ra Govindu, reportedly rejected the demand. FIRE raised the demand for a state committee.

An old-timer in the Kannada film industry, producer Sa. Ra. Govindu said, “We don’t have anything to do with FIRE. There is no need to have a committee akin to the Hema Committee for the Kannada film industry. We already have KSCW. Those affected can directly contact KFCC and the film industry body and we will look into their complaints." 

He argued that constituting such a committee would be "detrimental to the interest of Kannada cinema" but failed to explain how. TC Venkatesh, former president of Karnataka Film Directors’ Association too felt the same way.

Fighting for women in Sandalwood

Kavitha Lankesh, a well-known filmmaker and president of FIRE, told The Federal that they hardly got an opportunity to speak at the meeting.

“We were arguing that let there be a separate committee or platform for women to study and report on the sexual harassment allegedly meted out to women in Kannada cinema and the lack of security for women in shooting locations," she explained.

"We will continue to impress upon the government the need for the committee with a mandate to study and report the problems being women face in Kannada cinema. We are not giving up on this demand," she added. Earlier, FIRE had already submitted a petition to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, requesting a committee headed by a retired judge to investigate the working conditions of women in the Kannada film industry similar to what transpired in the Malayalam film industry. 

Upset and disappointed

Actress Neetu, one of the signatories for the memorandum submitted to Siddaramaiah told The Federal that “Those, who claim to be the face of Sandalwood are rejecting the allegation of harassment of women in Kannada cinema. When I reacted stating that I am a victim. Sa. Ra. Govndu silenced me by asking me to keep quiet, as I represent FIRE."

Further, she stressed, "It is necessary to constitute a committee on the lines of the Hema Panel in Karnataka. I am ready to offer details of harassment meted out to me and name the persons who tormented me.”

All the women who attended the meeting, excepting those who are part of KFCC, were upset and disappointed by the treatment meted out to them. “Interestingly, few women artists are more worried about the existence of Kannada film industry, not about the woes of women artistes and workers,” Neetu lamented.

When The Federal contacted several women artistes and workers of Kannada film industry, they refused to comment giving the example of Sruthi Hariharan’s plight.

Nevertheless, on condition of anonymity, many shared their experiences and expressed their disappointment over the outcome of the meeting. A majority of women in Kannada cinema are going through some sort of harassment, not necessarily sexual. “They don’t raise their voice just because they are scared of losing a job or rather opportunities,” said one woman artiste.

Sruthi Hariharan, one of the signatories for the memorandum, voiced what a lot of the women in the industry felt, when she said, “It would be great to have a committee similar to that of the Hema Committee for an unbiased and fair investigation into the working condition of women across all the departments of Kannada film industry.” In her view, if the government appoints such a committee the issues will be the same, but the names will be different.

'Sexual exploitation exists'

A senior women artiste, who spoke to The Federal on condition of anonymity, said, “When the producers, filmmakers, artistes, at the helm of affairs of Kannada cinema opposed FIRE’s demand, and offered a clean-chit to themselves, some of us felt that, they are banding together to oppose the formation of committee."

She reiterated, "Sexual exploitation in the film industry is there and continues to persist, because everybody knows, that is precisely why everybody is keeping silent.”

Notably, many leading actors and actresses were conspicuously absent at the meeting. Questioning the absence of actors such as leading star Kichcha Sudeep and actress Ramya, who are signatories for the memorandum submitted to Siddaramaiah, producer Bhavana Ramanna sought to know why they failed to turn up for the meeting to validate their stand.

She also questioned the propriety or ‘locus-standi’ of KSCW to conduct the meeting at KFCC premises, while there are 24 other wings of Kannada cinema. “KSCW seems to have given an official stamp to KFCC, which earlier has failed to address complaints of this kind,” she argued.

However, Kichcha Sudeep washed his hands of the entire affair by saying he had no connection with FIRE and said, “I was shocked to see my name in the memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister.”

KFCC stand, a 'setback'

Meanwhile, Rockline Venkatesh asserted the KFCC stand by saying “the formation of the committee may affect the business part of the industry. We do not have issues with the formation of the Committee, but that will affect business and transactions around which Kannada cinema revolves”.

Many felt the KFCC meeting, which yielded nothing, was clearly a ‘setback’. The demand by FIRE to set up a Hema-like committee was swept aside, and some seemed happy that KSCW had 'cajoled' KFCC to form a PoSH Committee. However, the KFCC has not agreed to form a PoSH Committees either as suggested by KSCW chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary.

Instead, KFCC has sought 15 days to respond to KSCW’s suggestion to consult legal experts and come up with a response after an executive committee meeting.

However, FIRE continues to stick to its decision to seek a government-formed committee headed by a retired justice. “Of course, PoSH will help to ease the situation to a certain extent. But, the real problems will come to light only when a government-constituted committee is formed, for an unbiased and fair investigation into the working conditions of women across all the departments of Kannada film industry. And, we will fight to ensure that mechanism is set up,” said Chetan Ahimsa, founder and active member of FIRE.

To sum it up, Chetan quoted an observation of the Hema Committee report to substantiate FIRE’s stand. “The sky is full of mysteries; with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon. But, a scientific investigation revealed that stars do not twinkle nor does the moon look beautiful. Therefore, cautions: Do not trust what you see, even salt looks like sugar!”