Express solidarity with women artistes in the Kerala film industry
On the night of February 17, 2018, a well known actress, who has worked in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films, was kidnapped and molested in a moving car while she was on her way from Thrissur to Kochi.
Five months later, popular Malayalam actor, Dileep, was arrested because of his alleged involvement in the molestation case. He has been accused of hatching a plot with the prime accused, Pulsar Suni and his associates, for abducting and assaulting the actress in a moving car.
A day after his arrest, he was expelled from the primary membership of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
However, recently, after actor Mohanlal took over as chairman of AMMA, the accused actor Dileep’s suspension from AMMA was revoked.
This decision has sent shock waves throughout the Malayalam film industry and four leading actresses who are members of the association have resigned from the AMMA. The recently formed Women in Cinema Collective, based out of Kerala, has also come out strongly to protest this decision.
In yet another show of solidarity, 178 women film practitioners from all genres across India have come together to sign a letter of protest. These include Nandita Das, Renuka Shahane, Gitanjali Rao, Namrata Rao, Shweta Venkat, Aruna Raje, Lovleen Mishra, Sheeba Chadha, Aruna Vasudev, Shama Zaidi, Nalini Malini, among several others.
Statement from Women Film Practitioners:
As women working in film across genres and industries in India we received the news of AMMA ( Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes) reinstating actor Dileep, who is an accused in the abduction and molestation of an actor, with shock and deep disappointment.
A body that is meant to represent artistes of the Malayalam movie industry showed complete disregard for its own member who is the victim of this gross crime. Even before the case has reached its conclusion, AMMA has chosen to validate a person accused of a very serious crime against a colleague. We condemn this cavalier attitude by artistes against women artistes who are working alongside them. There is misogyny and gender discrimination embedded in this action.
We admired and supported the Women in Cinema Collective that was formed by women film artistes in Kerala in the aftermath of the abduction and molestation of a colleague, a top star in the industry. We applaud the WCC members who have walked out of AMMA to protest the chairman’s invitation to reinstate the accused. We pledge our continued support to the Women in Cinema Collective who are blazing a trail to battle sexism in the film industry.
Cinema is an art form that can challenge deeply entrenched violence and discrimination in society. It is distressing to see an industry that stands amongst the best in the country and has even made a mark in world cinema choose to shy away from using their position and their medium responsibly at this important moment. Today women form a significant part of the film and media industries, we reject any attempt at silencing us and making us invisible.
Associations representing film workers have to function through democratic processes and we have to ensure that a few powerful members cannot subvert and marginalise voices of those less powerful than them. As women we are starkly aware of how vulnerable we are in every film industry. This is our attempt to come together and stand in solidarity with the Women in Cinema Collective and urge the chairman and other office bearers of AMMA to function with sensitivity and responsibility, and above all democratically.
- Aanchal Kapur, Researcher, Film Curator, New Delhi
- Aaradhana Kapur Kohli, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Aditi Pinto, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Akshay Gouri, Film Student, Kolkata
- Aliza Noor Khan, Media practitioner, Hyderabad
- Ambarien al Qadr, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Amira Sultan Kapur, Media practitioner, Chandigarh
- Ananya Chakraborti, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker, Academic, Mumbai
- Anjali Punjabi, Producer, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Anubha Yadav, Writer, Academic, New Delhi
- Anupama Chandra, Filmmaker, Film Editor, New Delhi
- Anupama Srinivasan, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Aparna Sanyal, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Apurwa Yagnik, Film Editor, Filmmaker, Jaipur
- Archana Borhade, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Archana Kapoor, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Aradhna Seth, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Aruna Raje, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Aruna Vasudev, Scholar, Author, Film Festival Director, New Delhi
- Arunima Shankar, Film Editor, Goa
- Ayisha Abraham, Academic, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Batul Mukhtiar, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Bela Negi, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Bishakha Dutta, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Chandita Mukherjee, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Damini Benny Basu, Actor, Kolkata
- Debadrita Bose, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Debalina Majumdar, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Debjani Mukherjee, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Deepa Dhanraj, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Deepika Sharma, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Deepti Khurana, Academic, Rohtak
- Deepti Pant, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Dinaz Stafford, Casting Director, Mumbai
- Dipti Bhalla Verma, Film Editor, Filmmaker, Gurgaon
- Ekavali Khanna, Film Actor, Kolkata
- Fareeda AM, Film Editor
- Farha Khatun, Filmmaker, Film Editor, Kolkata
- Gargi Sen, Media Practitioner, New Delhi
- Gauri D Chakraborty, Academic, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Geeta Sahai, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Gissy Michael, Sound Recordist and Designer, Mumbai
- Gita Raju, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Gitanjali Rao, Animation Director, Mumbai
- Gouri Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Pune
- Gopi Desai, Actor, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Guneet Monga, Film Producer, Mumbai
- HansaThapliyal, Filmmaker, Bangeluru
- Heer Ganjwala, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Hemanti Sarkar, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Iggy Ahluwalia, Art Director, Bombay
- Indrani, Student, Writer, Kolkata
- Irene Dhar Malik, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Ishani Roy, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Jabeen Merchant, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Jayoo Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Pune
- Jenny Pinto, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Jeroo Mulla, Academic, Mumbai
- Jill Misquitta, Filmmaker, Kodaikanal
- Jyoti Kapur Das, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Kasturi, Filmmaker, Film movement worker, Kolkata
- Kavita Joshi, Filmmaker, Media Trainer, New Delhi
- Kirtana Kumar, Actor/Director, Bangalore
- Koel Sen, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Kunjila Mascillamani, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Lalitha Krishna, Filmmaker, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Layashree Joshi, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Leena Manimekalai, Filmmaker, Chennai
- Leena Yadav, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Lipika Singh Darai, Filmmaker, Film Editor, sound Recordist, Bhubaneshwar, Mumbai
- Lovleen Mishra, Film Actor, Mumbai
- Madhavi Tangella, Filmmaker, Academic, Kolkata
- Madhuja Mukherjee, Academic, Artist, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Madhusree Dutta, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Maheen Mirza, Filmmaker, Cinematographer, Bhopal
- Malini Dasari, Cinematographer, Hyderabad
- Mansi Pingle, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Manoshi Nath, Costume Designer, Mumbai
- Meenakshi Barooah, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Minnie Vaid, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Miriam Chandy, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Moupia Mukherjee, Writer, Gender Exponent and Film Maker, Kolkata
- Nabeela Rizvi, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Nalini Malani, Visual Artist, Mumbai
- Namita Nayak Chopra, Sound Recordist and Designer, New Delhi
- Namrata Rao, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Nandita Das, Actor, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Natasha Badhwar, Cinematographer, Author, New Delhi
- Neena Verma, Film Editor, Pune
- Neha Parti Matiyani, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Nidhi Sharma, Film Student, Kolkata
- Nilita Vachani, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Nina Sabnani, Academic, Animation Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Nishtha Jain, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Nupur Basu, Filmmaker, Journalist, Bengaluru
- Padmaja Shaw, Academic, Filmmaker, Hyderabad
- Paramita Ghosh, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Paromita Vohra, Filmmaker, Script Writer, Mumbai
- Pinky Brahma Choudhury, Filmmaker, Bagli
- Priya Thuvassery, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Priyanka Chhabra, Filmmaker, Film Editor, New Delhi
- Priyanka Gaikwad, Sound Recordist
- Pooja Gupte, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Pooja Sharma, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Puloma Paul, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Putul Mahmood, Filmmaker, Academic, Kolkata
- Radha Misra, Academic, Pune
- Ranu Ghosh, Cinematographer, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Rajashree , Filmmaker, Novelist, Mumbai
- Reema Borah, Filmmaker, Guwahati, Mumbai
- Reena Mohan, Filmmaker, Film Editor, New Delhi
- Rekha Nigam, Script Writer, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Renuka Shahane, Actor, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Richa Hushing, Filmmaker, Puducherry
- Ridhima Mehra, Film Producer, New Delhi
- Rinchin, Script Writer, Bhopal
- Ruchika Negi, Filmmaker, Academic, New Delhi
- Ruchika Oberoi, Filmmaker, Script writer, Mumbai
- Rukshana Tabassum, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Saba Dewan, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sabeena Gadihoke, Academic, Cinematographer, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sagari Chhabra, Author, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sakshi Gulati, Filmmaker, Pune
- Sanchali Mukhopadhyay, Cinematographer, Kolkata
- Sameera Jain, Filmmaker, Academic, New Delhi
- Samina Mishra, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sampritee Ghatak, Actor, Kolkata
- Sania Farooqui, TV Anchor, Journalist, New Delhi
- Sanghamitra Deb, Actor/Performer, Kolkata
- Sayani Gupta, Film Actor, Mumbai
- Sehjo Singh, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Shabani Hassanwalia, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Shabnam Sukhdev, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Shanthi Mohan, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Sharmistha Jha, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Shama Zaidi, Script Writer, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Shashwati Talukdar, Filmmaker, Dehradun
- Sheeba Chadha, Film Actor, Mumbai
- Sherna Dastur, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Shikha Sen, Film Editor, New Delhi
- Shilpi Gulati, Filmmaker, Researcher, New Delhi
- Shubhangini, Film Student, Kolkata
- Shrushti Rao, Film Student, Kolkata
- Shweta Ghosh, Filmmaker, Film Scholar, Pune
- Shweta Venkat, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Simantini Dhuru, Educationist, Filmmaker, Mumai
- Smriti Nevatia, Film Curator, Mumbai
- Solanki Chakroborty, Cinematographer, Mumbai
- Sonali Jha Chatterjee, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Sohini Dasgupta, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Sreecheta Das, Filmmaker, Kolkata
- Sreemoyee Bhattacharya, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Sruti Viswesaran, Filmmaker, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Subasri Krishnan, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Suchitra Sathe, Film Editor, Pune
- Sudarshana Chakroborty, Filmmaker, Journalist, Kolkata
- Sujata Kundu, Filmmaker, Editor, Academic, Kolkata
- Suhasini Mulay, Actor, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Sunanda Bhat, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Surabhi Sharma, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Sushma Veerappa, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Suzanne Caplan Merwanji, Filmmkaer, Mumbai
- Swati Dandekar, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Teena Kaur, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Teena Gill, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Tinni Mitra, Film Editor, Mumbai
- T. Jayashree, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- T.N. Uma Devi, Filmmaker, New Delhi
- Yasha Ramchandani, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Yashodara Udupa, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Urmi Juvekar, Script writer, Mumbai
- Usha Bhasin, TV Producer, New Delhi
- Usha Rao, Filmmaker, Bengaluru
- Vanaja C, Filmmaker, Hyderabad
- Vasundhara Phadke, Film Editor, Mumbai
- Veena Bakshi, Filmmaker, Mumbai
- Vineeta Negi, Film Editor, Pune
July 6, 2018 at 9:46 pm
The film personalties should demand compensation for violating the constitution abg