Law to curb issues in film industry in offing in Kerala

Saji Cheriyan said that the draft law to address the problems in the film industry was almost ready

A law to deal with issues like discrimination in the Malayalam film industry is likely to be introduced soon.

The state has been witnessing a row over a report that narrates the harassment and discrimination in the industry. While a section of actors was pressing the state government to make public the report and to implement the recommendations by the committee headed by a former judge of the Kerala High Court, the state government was of the stand that the report could not be made public as it contained personal experiences of many women in the film industry.

In a bid to pacify the industry, Kerala minister in charge of cinema Saji Cheriyan said on Friday that the draft law to address the problems in the film industry was almost ready. Setting up of a tribunal to deal with complaints on the issues in the film industry was one of the key recommendations of the committee headed by Justice K Hema.

The three member committee was constituted by the government in 2017 following pressure from Women in Cinema Collective, a forum of women in the film industry, subsequent to the sexual assault on a popular south Indian actress in Kochi in February 2017.

It was learnt that many women as well as men working in the film industry had narrated their bitter experiences like discrimination and sexual harassment. Most of them confided to the committee following an assurance to protect their privacy. The committee also suggested to the government not to make public the report. The State Information Commission also took a stand that since it involved the privacy of many people, it could not be brought under the purview of RTI Act.

However, a section in the industry was strongly pressing for making the report public and to take legal course of action on the basis of the revelations in the report. Noted actress Parvathy Thiruvothu recently stated that many well respected persons in the film industry would get exposed if the report came out. Popular actor Prithviraj Sukumaran said that the recommendations of the committee should be implemented at the earliest.

Meanwhile, government sources said that there was no point in the demand to make the report public as those confided to the committee their perosonal experiences would not be preferring to take legal course of action. If they wished they would have already done it or came out in the open. The government was seriously considering the report. The delay in implementing the recommendation was mainly due to the Covid pandemic, and the matter need to be discussed at various level as the draft law need to be frame meticulously.

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