For Malayalam film industry, no dearth of committees, but concrete action missing Premium

Committee set up by Kerala govt to draft film policy sparks controversy; Hema Committee report reignites debate on govt's reluctance to make it public. Indian govt's pre-Independence Cinematograph committee & post-Independence Patil committee had censorship-oriented & meaningful suggestions to improve film industry. KSFDC set up in 1975 to aid Malayalam cinema; Chalachitra Academy formed in 1998 to nurture meaningful cinema. WCC uncertain of committee's potential impact; remains to be seen if it will come up with anything concrete.

Setting up a committee can serve either of two purposes — open new pathways to understand issues so that they can be a guiding light to solve those or provide a comfortable cushion to delay decisive action on contentious issues. In Kerala, members of the Malayalam film fraternity are wondering which of these purposes a committee set up by the State government to draft a film policy, will fulfill. Controversy erupted soon after the constituting of the committee, with various film bodies accusing the government of forming the committee unilaterally without consulting industry stakeholders.

Even worse, some of those included in the committee were reportedly not consulted before their names were announced, and filmmaker Rajeev Ravi and actor Manju Warrier opted out of it citing other commitments. The 10-member committee headed by filmmaker Shaji N. Karun, the Chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), was constituted as per an order issued by the Department of Cultural Affairs on July 15.

Mr. Karun was placed as the head of the committee at a time when the KSFDC is facing criticism for the way it has handled the government’s project to promote films by women filmmakers and those from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. At least two women filmmakers, whose films were funded under the programme, have publicly  spoken out against the way that the KSFDC had treated them, making them run from pillar to post at every turn and causing them mental trauma.

The film policy committee, which is expected to submit its report within two months, would also look into the Hema Committee report to address issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry and include appropriate recommendations from it in its report. The mention of the Hema Committee report in the order has reignited the debate on why the government has been reluctant to make it public or take any action on the report, three and a half years after it was submitted. The Hema Committee, constituted in the aftermath of the actor assault case, a seminal event which fuelled questions related to gender in the film industry, had submitted the report to the Chief Minister on December 31, 2019.

Though the government, following criticism over inaction, constituted yet another committee to study the report in January 2022, the panel is not known to have met till date or taken any action on the recommendations. In this context, many suspect whether the latest committee is aimed at providing an easy way out for the government without publishing the Hema Committee report. The Hema Committee, headed by Justice K. Hema, had submitted a report on issues related to sexual harassment, wage disparity and other injustices within the film industry. Many women in the industry had given detailed testimonies to the committee of the harassment they experienced. Hinting at the presence of big names, actor Parvathy had said in 2022 that many ‘idols’ will fall if the report comes out.

One of the first known committees related to cinema in India was set up in the pre-Independence era. The Indian Cinematograph committee headed by lawyer-politician T. Rangachari in 1927 was set up mainly with a focus on censorship of films. Nothing much was done about the report and major recommendations for giving assistance to the film industry were dropped as they involved considerable expenditure.

Post-Independence, the Indian government constituted the Film Enquiry committee headed by politician S. K. Patil to suggest means by which the film industry can be “put on a sound footing and be developed as a medium of education and healthy entertainment”. Over three years, the committee held wide consultations with over 6,000 people from the industry as well as with the general population. The report, prepared after 43 sittings across the country, is an exhaustive record on the state of the Indian film industry at the time of Independence.