Former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao
Credit: PTI Photo
Access to workplaces for women, especially junior artists in the Telugu film industry, comes with conditions amounting to harassment and seeking sexual favours.
A report submitted by a sub-committee formed by the Telangana government in April 2019, mentioned this as a finding, The Indian Express reported.
The committee had been formed to probe allegations of sexual harassment in the Telugu film industry.
The government, then under K Chandrashekar Rao, did not make this report -- which was submitted in 2022 -- public. With Mollywood going through its #MeToo moment, this report is back in focus now.
Talasani Srinivas Yadav, the former minister of cinematography, animal husbandry, and fisheries, told the publication that the report was 'very vague' and didn't have much to work on.
"The report did not provide anything specific that required action," the former minister was quoted saying.
Kondaveeti Satyavati, one of the top members of the panel, however, has contradicted this.
"Sexual quid pro quo is rampant in Telugu film industry. We spoke to people in the 24 crafts identified in the film industry — from junior artists to support staff — and our findings are there in the report. We cannot disclose the details. That is the job of the government," she told the publication, urging the present government to release the report.
Following the Hema Committee report, which sent shockwaves through the Malayalam film industry, several Telugu women stars, including actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, have demanded the release of the report on the Telugu film industry.
Actor Sri Reddy, in 2018, had caused a stir by protesting semi-nude outside the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce in Film Nagar, Hyderabad.
Following this, the Women and Transgender Organisation's Joint Action Committee approached the High Court pleading that a probe be ordered into the exploitation of women in the film industry there.
In April 2019, the then-KCR government formed a high-level committee with directors, producers, police commissioners, women and child welfare department officials, as well as representatives from the Telangana State Film Development Corporation, film industry unions and the television industry, as well as other stakeholders.
This body, in turn, formed a sub-committee which then proceeded to carry out at least 20 meetings with numerous individuals, including women junior actors, side artists, supporting actors, as well as dance performers, who the committee regarded to be most vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Yadav was one of the people overseeing the work, along with the Public Relations Commissioner Arvind Kumar.
As per IE, most people interviewed reported harassment over payments, lack of written work contracts, unequal pay, and poor work conditions, with several women stating there were no separate rest areas or toilets for them.
Though Covid hampered the sub-committee's functioning, work continued till 2022.
The Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Telugu Film and Television Industries report was submitted in June 2022, but the government chose to shelve it.
The publication reported that many women interviewed by the sub-committee had stopped short of naming anyone who'd demanded sexual favours from them or specifying the kinds of harassment they were subjected to.
However, Telugu stars in the past have addressed these issues, with Anushka Shetty in 2020, mentioning that the casting couch is a reality in the industry, and added that she had 'protected herself' from exploitation.
Satyavati, meanwhile, noted that the Telugu film industry is largely an unorganised sector.
"There is no accountability. There is no one to take complaints, especially about sexual harassment. Sexual favours are sought to give work. Junior female artistes are the most exploited," IE reported her say.