Aattam director Anand Ekarshi says his National Award-winning drama wasn’t triggered by an incident in Malayalam film industry, reflects on Hema Committee

Aattam, which bowled over the audience with its nuanced depiction of sexual assault and its aftermath, has been back in the discussion ever since it won the National Award and then all the more with the recent revelations of the report.

“When writing the movie, I wasn’t thinking of a particular case. When I decided that sexual assault would be the crime in my story, I wanted to talk about the dimensions and perspective not been spoke about it what happens behind the doors. I wasn’t thinking of what was happening in the film industry or any particular case,” Aattam director Anand told Indianexpress.com.

The filmmaker, who made his debut with Aattam which bagged three National Awards, including best film, editing, and screenplay, said the stories of the women in his life, from friends to relatives, have been in his “subconscious” and so all the information he had over the years “poured on to the script.”

A still from Aattam. (Photo: PR handout)

“When I did the script narration, I was told that once the film is released there could be parallel readings of it with whatever is happening in the society. Which is fair, even though we didn’t intend that, once a film is done they can read it the way they want. This crime isn’t only limited to the industry anyway, even though it’s related.”

When asked how to make film sets safer for women, Anand said the production house needs to take some measures to bring about systemic changes. “There’s a lot of systemic problems. Most films are a result of people coming together, who you don’t know. You don’t know their background or mindset, you’re there for a temporary period.

“If there’s a panel on every film, then there will be a responsible behaviour by people, you’d know that there is somebody watching out. That’s an important thing that should be brought to action as soon as possible. This panel—be it one person or two people—should be with them throughout the production of the movie.”

‘The report’

On February 17, 2017, a leading Malayalam film actress was abducted and sexually assaulted in her car by a group of men. A prominent actor was later implicated in the case which sparked outrage across Kerala and brought under the scanner the discriminatory treatment faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), comprising women actors, producers, directors, and technicians, was formed in response to this incident. On May 18, 2017 the WCC submitted a petition to the Kerala Chief Minister demanding an inquiry into the incident, and larger gender issues plaguing the state’s film industry.

In July, the state government formed a three-member committee headed by Justice K Hema, a retired Kerala High Court judge, to look into issues of sexual harassment and pervasive gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry. After speaking to multiple women in the industry, the Committee submitted a 295-page report to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in December 2019. However, the report was only made public earlier this month.