Hema Committee report: Women must get equal opportunities to feel safe at workplace: Ektaa Kapoor

Women will feel safe at workplace only if they get equal opportunities and hold top positions in companies, producer Ektaa R Kapoor has said while reacting to the Justice Hema Committee report that exposed sexual misconduct by male actors and producers in the Malayalam film industry.

Concerns over women's safety

At the trailer launch event of her upcoming production The Buckingham Murders, on Tuesday (September 3) Kapoor told the media in Mumbai that conscious efforts had to be made to ensure a safe working environment for women.

"A lot of places, we need women at the top and at least running companies. And for that, women also have to make an initiative...a conscious effort to keep a safe environment for women at any place at work. A big part of it will be women leading professional jobs. And I think that has to start happening. It's still a very slanted place," she said.

Malayalam film industry

The Kerala film industry is grappling with a huge controversy after the Hema Committee report became public.

"Women and their safety are not just an industry issue, it's any woman's workplace issue. And we take this very seriously," she said.

"Two female producers coming together and making a film, telling a crime story which is sorted by a female officer, is also a step at creating some kind of safety and some kind of power," added the producer.

Responsibility is on men: Hansal Mehta

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who was at the event, said the onus was on men and they have the responsibility for creating a safe environment for working women.

"It is up to men. The responsibility is on men… I think it's about time we own up and we look at this, look at safety in the eye," he said.

The Buckingham Murders is scheduled to be released in theatres on September 13. It features Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Brar, Ash Tandon, Assad Raja, Prabhleen Sandhu, Sanjeev Mehra, Adwoa Akoto and Zain Hussain.