The Hema Committee report, which exposed the ordeals faced by women in Malayalam cinema, revealed that a founder member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) had claimed there was no sexual assault on women in the film industry for selfish reasons. In paragraph 268 of page 135, the Hema Committee member mentioned that while members of the WCC were generally not getting work for the mere reason they protested against the atrocities in cinema, this one actor, who is one of the founding members of the WCC, was getting several offers in cinema.
“The only member of WCC who is getting several offers in cinema is the founder member of the WCC about whom I have already discussed above. She is the only one woman who stated repeatedly that there is no problem for women in cinema and that she had not heard about any sexual harassment on any woman in cinema, etc, which is far from the truth. In this context, if her evidence is analysed, we are persuaded to believe that she is deliberately not speaking against men or the industry only because of her selfish motive not to get ousted from the Malayalam industry,” the report stated.
The WCC was formed in 2017 after the sexual assault of a prominent woman actor in Malayalam cinema. The Women in Cinema collective was formed as an 18-member collective with actors Rima Kallingal, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Sajitha Madathil, Remya Nambeesan, Manju Warrier, Stephy Xavier, Vidhu Vincent, Anjali Menon, Bina Paul, Asha Achy Joseph, screenwriter Deedi Damodaran, among others.
Bina Paul, in her statement to Onmanorama, said that they can't negate what one of the founder members of the WCC felt about the industry. “If she felt that the place was safe, that is how she views it. We cannot negate her sentiments,” she said.
