Panel flagged sexual harassment in Telugu film industry too, but Telangana govt found it ‘vague’

The then government under Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not make the report public, which was submitted in June 2022. With the storm that has enveloped the Malayalam film industry, the fate of that report is back in focus.

Former minister of cinematography, animal husbandry, and fisheries, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, told The Indian Express that the report was “very vague” and did not have anything to work on.

“The sub-committee did a lot of work and interviewed many people but the report did not provide anything specific that required action,” Yadav said.

However, Kondaveeti Satyavati, one of the top members of the sub-committee, a prominent women’s rights activist, and project director of Bhumika Women’s Collective, said the report does mention sexual exploitation in the Telugu film industry. “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 said, adding, “The present government should release the report.”

After the Hema Committee report on the Malayalam film industry, several women in the Telugu film industry, including actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, have taken to social media to demand that the Telangana government release the report immediately to the public.

On April 7, 2018, actor Sri Reddy caused a stir when she held a semi-nude protest outside the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. It prompted the Women and Transgender Organisations Joint Action Committee to approach the High Court with a plea to order a probe into exploitation of women in the Telugu film industry.

In April 2019, the then Telangana government of KCR constituted a high-level committee comprising film directors, producers, police commissioners, women and child welfare department officials, and representatives from the Telangana State Film Development Corporation, film industry unions and the television industry, among other stakeholders.

The high-level committee in turn instituted a sub-committee, which conducted at least 20 meetings with several people, including women junior actors, supporting actors, side artistes, and dance performers, who, according to the committee, were regarded as most vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

Talasani Srinivas Yadav and Information and Public Relations Commissioner Arvind Kumar oversaw the work of the sub-committee. A majority of the people interviewed reported harassment over payment of salaries, lack of written employment contracts, unequal wages, and poor work conditions, with several women reporting that there were no separate rest areas or toilets for them, it is learnt.

The sub-committee’s work was hampered by the Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions but continued till 2022.

According to Satyavati, the Telugu film industry is 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,” she said.

The brief of the sub-committee was to report its findings and make recommendations to help the government formulate policies to make workplaces safe for women across the board. In June 2022, the committee submitted the ‘Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Telugu Film and Television Industries’ to the government.

However, the KCR government chose not to make the findings public and the report was shelved. Several women interviewed by the sub-committee stopped short of naming anyone who demanded sexual favours from them or what kind of harassment they were subjected to, it is learnt.

However, several Telugu film actresses have spoken about it. Speaking at a promotional event for her film Nishabdham in September 2020, Anushka Shetty said that casting couch is very much a reality in Telugu film industry and that she “protected herself” from exploitation.

Likewise, actors Aamani and Aishwarya Rajesh have spoken about being called “to meet personally” at an off-work place.