“The sky is full of mysteries, with the twinkling stars and the beautiful moon. But, scientific investigation revealed that stars do not twinkle nor does the moon look beautiful,” thus begins eloquently the K. Hema Committee report which casts in unflattering light the dark clouds hovering over the “exterior glitter” of the Malayalam film industry.
The committee records with anguish the sobbing stories of despair, not only of women, but men too, who are silenced in the industry.
One of the key recommendations of the committee to the State government is the enactment of an appropriate statute and constitution of a tribunal to address all the issues faced by women in cinema.
The statute must contain provisions which will prohibit various illegal and objectionable acts committed by any person against women in cinema and also penalise the perpetrator.
The committee recommends that a District Judge, preferably a woman with minimum five years of experience on the trial side, should be appointed as the tribunal. The decision of the tribunal shall be final, subject only to revision before a Division Bench of the High Court.
The tribunal should have the powers to take assistance from experts in any field, from within or outside the industry as well as to appoint any person as commission to inspect, discreetly enquire or collect any relevant material.
All proceedings before the tribunal shall be held ‘in camera’. The tribunal will be treated as a civil court and it will not have the powers of a criminal court to conduct any trial. The tribunal can impose a penalty for instances of harassment or bans.
The Hema committee also recommends that film production units have to make arrangements for temporary toilet facilities as well as changing rooms using rings and a thick curtain which can be temporarily fixed to any wall.