Pressure mounts on Telangana govt to make public report on Tollywood | Hyderabad News – Times of India

HYDERABAD: Two years after a sub-committee submitted to Telangana govt a report on alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the Telugu film industry, a committee member has said the time has come to make the report public.
A Suneetha, who was part of the committee which the previous BRS govt constituted in 2019 with senior officials, police and civil society members, told TOI: “Despite reminding govt 3-4 times after we submitted the report, we did not get any positive response on making the report public.”
With the Hema Committee report on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry out in the public domain (on Aug 19), demands from Tollywood women actors to publicise the committee report on Tollywood are growing increasingly louder, with Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Lakshmi Manchu leading the charge.
“We had extensive discussions with women actors, camerawomen and women workers from the Telugu film and television industry and conducted over 20 sessions on the challenges they face at the workplace and how they cope,” Suneetha recalled.
While refraining from disclosing the committee’s findings, Suneetha said: “The power dynamics within the Telugu film industry were apparent. No prominent personality from either the film or TV industry had come forward to interact with us. In the Malayalam film industry, senior actors and actresses had deposed before the Hema Committee.”
The panel’s report was submitted on June 1, 2022 to the then state chief secretary and the Telangana State Film Development Corporation.
Malayalam senior actor Mohanlal, soon after resigning as Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes president in the aftermath of the Hema Committee report, claimed he had appeared before the committee to give his version on the alleged sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry.
The Joint Action Committee of Women and Transgender Organisations, which filed a PIL on sexual harassment in 2018, is planning to present its demands once again to create a safer environment for women actors and workers.
Women’s activist and JAC member V Sandhya, who often raises gender discrimination and sexual abuse at various fora, toldTOI: “A delegation of women’s activists has already met the state women’s commission in this regard. We are proposing several initiatives to make the workplace safer for women actors.”
Sajaya Kakarla, also a JAC member, said there should be at least one female casting or female assistant director per film shooting unit to prevent exploitation of women actors and workers.
TV anchor and actress Jhansi said on her Instagram handle that there was a need to look into the committee’s report to ensure a safe working environment for women in the Telugu film industry.