AMMA Controversy: Indian Film Industry Is Unwilling To Change

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes or AMMA controversy took a new turn yesterday when four female members sent their resignation. On Sunday, AMMA, led by its new President, actor Mohanlal, welcomed back actor Dileep to the association. The tainted Malayalam superstar is a primary accused in a conspiracy in the abduction and sexual assault of a leading Malayalam actress in February last year.

Following these allegations, AMMA ousted him, who was the association's treasurer at that point. But as soon as the storm of outrage died down, AMMA quickly embraced its dear bankable superstar. It wasted no time in showing the female members where they belonged in the hierarchy.

In opposition to this decision Rima Kallingal, Ramya Nambeesan, Geetu Mohandas and the victim of the sexual assault quit AMMA, claiming that the matter was never put down in the agenda or discussed among members before the meeting.  Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) has now written a letter to AMMA demanding an explanation on why the association chose to welcome back Dileep.

The answer, whether or not it comes from the horse’s mouth, is crystal clear. Mollywood, like all other cinema industries in India, runs on the petrol of male star power.

The showbiz in every corner of our country reflects the patriarchal mentality of our society. Where men drunk on power, money and popularity squish women's rights under their giant egos.

On one hand, you have Hollywood, which alienated powerful men like Kevin Spacey, Louis CK and Harvey Weinstein in wake of #MeToo. The industry showed respect to the mandate of common people and claims made by the survivors. It pledged to reform the nefarious system which led to the abuse of women.

Then you have various film industries in India where no one ever bad mouths any male superstar. Every word is chosen carefully. Every cry of misconduct is gagged by a threat of being blacklisted and every entitled man guarded by his peers. The problem in India is that no one cares about women’s rights. Neither the public nor the industry cares about issues like harassment faced by women who work in films.

Today Hollywood is slowly yet steadily changing its ways. While in Mollywood, two Malayali superstars (Mammootty and Mohanlal) are reinstating a man accused of planning a female actor’s abduction and sexual assault.

How full of themselves these men have to be, to go through with a decision which has outrage written all over it? The blame for our misogynist film industry lies with its misogynist viewers. It won’t be any surprise when films of these male actors earn hundreds of crores at the box office. Despite their utter disregard for rights of female members of the industry. We have seen male superstars get away with worse in this country.

For their fans, these men are flawless and pinnacles of Indian manhood. Whatever they do can never be wrong. Just like every man in our country, these powerful film stars, producers etc get a free pass due to their gender. Unless this thinking changes, we will remain behind achieving what Hollywood has done for women empowerment in barely ten months. While it still has a long way to go, Indian film industry is yet to even start.

Also Read: Is a #MeToo in Bollywood Possible Without Taking Names?

Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is a writer with the SheThePeople team, in the Opinions section. The views expressed are the author’s own.