WCC: Leading the revolution for safe workplaces in Mollywood
The Women in Cinema Collective — a first-of-its-kind all-woman outfit in the Indian cinema — has been fighting for the establishment of a non-discriminatory workplace in Malayalam cinema since 2017
Award-winning filmmaker Jeo Baby said that a big revolution is happening within the Malayalam film industry and a massive change will occur in workplaces in Kerala. “And that change has been led by the women in our society and the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC),” he added.
The director — known for his several critically acclaimed movies, including The Great Indian Kitchen, which show formidable depiction of women and are critique of gender roles and patriarchal norms — was speaking at a news conclave on August 30. His remarks came a fortnight after the release of the landmark Justice Hema committee report, which has documented the systemic sexual abuse of women in the Malayalam film industry, the presence of a male “power group” that calls the shots and many other issues.
Baby is not alone. Numerous other actors, activists, technicians and former members of the film fraternity, even from outside Kerala, have commended the efforts of WCC — a first-of-its-kind all-woman outfit in the Indian cinema — for continuously fighting for the establishment of a non-discriminatory workplace in Malayalam cinema since 2017.
The trigger for WCC’s formation
WCC was founded by 18 women from the Kerala film industry in the wake of the alleged horrific kidnapping and sexual assault of a leading female actor in a moving car by a gang of men in February 2017. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of police, which investigated the case, booked leading actor Dileep on charges of orchestrating the assault, based on a personal grudge against the actress. The entire episode wedged a rift in the state’s film industry — with many extending support to Dileep, while others pitching their voice against him. The influential actors body, Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), expelled the actor from its primary membership in 2017, however, it froze that decision in June 2018, drawing ire of activists and WCC members.
WCC was formed in May 2017, three months after the actress was allegedly sexually assaulted, and was registered as a society under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955. According to its website, the incident of assault “reaffirmed the stronghold of patriarchal beliefs in the film industry highlighting the challenges faced by survivors in the course of their pursuing justice”.
Following Dileep’s reinstatement in AMMA, four prominent actresses and WCC members, including the actor who was allegedly sexually assaulted, resigned from the actors’ body, making it clear that they have lost faith in the outfit for protecting their interests. In fact, the survivor said she had raised several complaints, particularly allegations that he dashed her opportunities in the industry, against the actor to the AMMA leadership years before the incident. But AMMA did nothing to address them, she alleged.
And in October 2020, actress Parvathy Thiruvoth, a founding member of WCC and who had stayed back in AMMA to “fight for internal changes within the film body”, announced her resignation too, bolstered by the “utterly disgusting” remarks of then general secretary Edavela Babu about the sexual assault survivor. When asked whether the survivor would feature in a movie that AMMA was planning to make, he had said, “She is not in AMMA anymore. We cannot bring back the dead.”
The journey of WCC
WCC, which has a lateral structure, is composed of a managing committee that has all the founders in it. It claims that volunteers drive their day-to-day activities from policymaking to the creation of organisational systems and running campaigns.
It was the WCC members who first met Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in May 2017 with a written request to commission a study to understand the issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. A month later, the government responded positively and announced a committee — headed by retired high court justice K Hema and two other women, yesteryear actress Sarada and former IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari — for the purpose. It wasn’t a judicial commission, the government underlined, but a committee that could study the problems in the film industry and recommend solutions to fix them. The committee submitted the report in December 2019 and after a long gap of over four-and-a-half years, a redacted version by protecting testimonies of victims was published on August 19 this year.
In September 2017, WCC took up the #Avalkoppam or #WithHer campaign to express solidarity to the actor of the alleged sexual assault case that generated a big trend on social media platforms. It coincided with the global #MeToo movement as part of which sexual assault survivors came out with accounts of abuse they faced in various domains.
Since then, the women’s outfit has engaged in a variety of activities — from organising discussions on misogyny projected on screen at film festivals such as IFFK to screenings of classical films, holding meetings with AMMA leadership for effecting gender-friendly norms and filing PILs with the Kerala high court to demand that industry bodies should adhere to rules of the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 (PoSH Act).
The state government’s decision to set aside a budget to fund films by women directors in 2019 was also seen as a result of WCC’s efforts.
However, the journey has not been smooth sailing for the outfit. Its members have been targeted by online trolls for their public comments and their opportunities in the film industry dried up as a result of raising their voice and engaging in the tussle with AMMA. “WCC members have a strong case that they were all banned from cinema because they openly stated undesirable things that happen in cinema,” the Hema panel report noted.
The position of WCC was vindicated especially on August 27 this year, when actor Mohanlal resigned as the AMMA president and its executive committee was dissolved in the wake of serious sexual abuse allegations against its members. The actors’ body admitted that it was taking “moral responsibility” amid calls for resignation against those enjoying top posts in the body and facing allegations. The wheel has come a full circle.
High Court advocate and social critic Harish Vasudevan posted on Facebook, “WCC members spoke out against injustice despite knowing that they could face professional setbacks and personal losses. They played a key role in the formation of the Hema committee and in ensuring more security in the workplace for other women.”