Former actress Sowmya has recently made serious allegations against a Tamil director, accusing him of severe mental, physical, and sexual abuse. In an interview with NDTV, she also shared her unsettling experiences within the Malayalam film industry.
Sowmya revealed that while she was not directly sexually exploited in Kerala, she did face significant human rights violations. She recounted an unsettling incident from the set of her first Malayalam film. During their stay at a hotel, she was informed that hairdressers and junior artists would be randomly summoned to the rooms of actors and directors at night. This created a frightening atmosphere for her. "It wouldn’t happen to me because my father insisted on staying with me," she said.
Sowmya also described a distressing moment during a movie shoot when she was made to sit on a 'Thulabharam,' a traditional weighing scale. She fell off in front of the entire crew, and the assistant directors seemed to take pleasure in her misfortune. "They had smirks on their faces and seemed to enjoy my discomfort," she noted. Souwmya felt that had her co-star Jayaram been in her position, the crew would have reacted differently. Despite the humiliation, she got up and continued with her scene. She admitted that such violations were frequent and, despite her love for being in front of the camera, they deeply affected her. "These kinds of violations kept happening to me, and even though I loved being in front of the camera, I felt compelled to continue my studies," she said.
