Malayalam cinema is facing a lot of controversies these days. Recently, the Hema Committee report on the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry has come out, after which the industry has come under fire. After the allegations of sexual assault, two big names of the industry, actor Siddique and filmmaker Ranjit, resigned from their posts in two major film bodies of the industry.
Now Malayalam industry actress Meenu Kurien has accused some actors and technicians of the industry of physical and verbal abuse. The people whom Meenu has accused include one of the big names of the Malayalam industry, actor Mukesh and actor-CPIM MLA Mukesh. Meenu’s name on Facebook profile is Meenu Munir and she has made serious allegations against people in her Facebook post itself.
Meenu raised her voice in a social media post
In her Facebook post, Meenu wrote, ‘I am writing to report the incidents of physical and verbal abuse that I faced in the Malayalam industry by the persons involved in the same: Mukesh, Maniyan Pilla Raju, Edavela Babu, Jayasurya, Advocate Chandrasekaran, and production controllers – Noble and Vichu.
While working on a project in 2013, I was subjected to physical and verbal abuse at the hands of these individuals. I tried to cooperate with them and continue working, but this abuse became intolerable.’
Meenu further wrote in her post that due to this incident, she had to leave the Malayalam film industry and shift to Chennai. She further said, ‘I had spoken against this exploitation in an article in Kerala Kaumudi titled – Meenu left the Malayalam industry due to not cooperating in ‘adjusting’.
‘I now want justice and accountability for the pain and trauma I have suffered. I now want your support to take action against their heinous crimes. Thank you for bringing attention to this issue’, Meenu wrote.
Malayalam industry shaken by Hema Committee
Meenu’s post comes at a time when there is a controversy over the dangerous conditions for women in the Malayalam film industry in the Hema Committee report. Under pressure from the opposition and women’s organizations and the film industry, the Kerala government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT). This SIT, comprising senior women police officers, will investigate the allegations of sexual harassment leveled by female artists against men in the industry.
Earlier also, Meenu had accused Idavela Babu of offering her sexual favours in exchange for membership of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Meenu had claimed that during the shoot of the film ‘De Thadiya’, Jayasurya touched her inappropriately when she was leaving the restroom. Meenu had accused Maniyan Pillai Raju of knocking on the door of the hotel room at night and wanting sexual favours.
Veteran actor accused of rape
Earlier, a Malayalam actress had accused Tamil-Malayalam actor Riyaz Khan of harassment. The actress had said that Riyaz asked for sexual favors from her on a phone call and when she refused, he kept asking her to ‘arrange women’. This actress also accused veteran actor Siddiqui of rape.