Singer Chinmayi Sripada recently commented on the Hema Committee report and complaints of sexual abuse in the film industry. In an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, she spoke in detail about the state of the film industry and how difficult it is to punish the culprits as they are mostly politically connected and come from wealthy backgrounds.

Chinmayi lauded the hard work of the team behind the Hema Committee and the members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) for setting an example. “The most important thing I want to mention here is salute to the WCC. They came together to do something important. This has not been done in any other industry till now. Everyone knows about these open secrets in all industries. We are talking about sexual harassment and sexual abuse and abuse of power in many other industries,” the singer said.

She said it was because of the persistent efforts and perseverance of the committee members and those who pushed them that women in the industry could see at least one light at the end of the tunnel. “The film industry has a very bad reputation somehow. Sexual harassment is considered common and normal here. I am really grateful for the work done by the women and the WCC together. Without their effort and perseverance, the Hema Committee report would not have come out,” she said.

“Nothing happens immediately even after complaints”

Chinmayi, who is fighting her sexual harassment case against Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu, highlighted that in most film industries, the perpetrators work together. She called it a ‘nexus of power, politics and money’. The singer said that the well-established political connections in the film industry and the support of fellow men make it easy for these perpetrators to go unpunished.

She said, “The problem here is that even if we go ahead and report an incident, even file a case, nothing much happens immediately. The case drags on for years and decades. I am still going to court, fighting for my right to work. It’s been seven years. Where else does this happen? All I said was that someone molested me. And they said ‘Well, we won’t let you work in the industry anymore’. That’s the kind of power people have, political power and money.”

“Justice leans in favor of those who have money and power”

Chinmayi explained that any form of sexual abuse usually comes from the idea of ​​abuse of power. She further added, “Sexual abuse is almost always not about attraction and falling in love. It is just abuse of power. It is people saying ‘I have the power to exploit and let’s see what you can do about it’. The power lobby exists everywhere. It is always about politics, money and power. Speaking out against sexual abuse requires a lot of support, especially from family. Even justice goes in favour of those who have access to money and power, and often it is not women who have access to money and power.”

The singer had levelled allegations against Vairamuthu during the #MeToo movement in India in 2018. Chinmayi also supported a woman who accused actor Radha Ravi of sexual harassment. She said that men at the centre of power in the industry know how our legal system works and they take advantage of it. She said, “Men know how it works. Who has the patience and money to go on like this for so long?”

The singer has been actively speaking out against sexual abuse against men, women and children for many years. She also spoke about facing emotional abuse at the hands of political leaders who hang out with known offenders, “invite them on stage” and “pose in photos” with them during their political events. “I want all governments to do something. Now, people are saying how cases have suddenly increased. Cases have not increased, reporting has increased. We are just corpses for these people who abuse power,” she said.

What did the Hema Committee report say?

Chinmayi’s statement comes days after the Hema Committee report revealed that several female artistes in the Malayalam film industry were being abused. The report highlighted widespread and persistent sexual harassment faced by women in Malayalam cinema, and even stated that there is a “power group” of 10-15 men “who are at the forefront of the Malayalam film industry” and “control” the functioning.

The report further states that if a member of the “Shakti group” is not happy with a person in the film, “no matter how skilled he or she is, even due to personal bias”, then all the members of the Shakti group unite and that person is barred from working in films.

Following the report, a Malayalam actor once again brought up her case of sexual harassment against veteran actor Siddique. After her 2019 complaint resurfaced, the actor resigned from the post of General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) on Sunday, August 25.