I was disappointed, but not because I expected someone to rescue me. I think I proved that we’re all capable of speaking for ourselves. But having said that, we are a team. My encounter went on for 10-12 minutes. As human beings we have a certain threshold, a limit to how much we can take. In the eighth or ninth minute, the victim mindset did kick in: why is nobody speaking in my support? Am I saying something wrong? It makes you question things. If the director and actor had taken a firm stand, it wouldn’t have escalated the way it did. I did speak to them later and they regretted not speaking up. I’m not someone who carries a grudge. But I think it’s a lesson. Sometimes, it’s better not to expect anything from anybody.

We’ve grown up hearing such comments and it has become normalized in society. In our homes, in our workplaces... Just because we are in this industry does not give anybody the right to comment on anything and everything. This must change because it affects the recipient’s mental health, self-esteem, and self-identity. I wanted to create awareness that this can’t go on casually.

It’s not just in this industry. In school, I was shamed because I wore a ponytail. Teachers casually said things like, “Oh, you’re trying to seduce the boys.” It leaves you feeling terrible because you’re not doing anything wrong. At 13 or 14, you just want to dress up and look good, but they put these ideas in your head. If you’re always scared of being judged, where is the space to be yourself? Once I entered the industry, I was body-shamed by directors and producers. If a director says you need to look a certain way for a role, that’s fair, and as actors we work hard. But something like your face shape can’t be changed. I have a round face. Asking me to lose the roundness is impossible. It takes a lot of courage to be in this industry where you’re always judged for how you look or what you’re wearing. My reaction that day was a build-up of facing this for many years.

It is definitely tiring. Everywhere you go, you’re commented on, made fun of, judged. In my case, the question was asked on such a public forum with so many cameras, and still he felt entitled enough to put me down. That’s why I said, ‘This is not okay.’ But having to retaliate to each and everything would take up so much of my time – time that I should spend focusing on my work.

Yes, I think so. (Singer and voice artist) Chinmayi Sripada, who’s my friend, is an example. She has been blacklisted from the industry only because she spoke up about #MeToo. Another example: after the case in Kerala involving the AMMA Association, the actress was kicked out, but the perpetrator stayed, at least at that time. (Actor) Parvathy Thiruvothu is another example. She speaks openly about issues, and I’ve heard that some filmmakers have labelled her “problematic”.

If you come in with the attitude of, “Oh, she’s too problematic,” or “She’s a drama queen,” or “She’s too feminist”, then I feel like I’ve done myself a favour. These are people I wouldn’t want to work with anyway.

Whether in South or the rest of India, there isn’t a conventional standard set for men. Of course, there’s the six-pack and the very fit look. But even then, many successful and older actors look just the way they are, and no one questions them. Having said that, my colleague Pradeep Ranganathan, during promotions for his movie ‘Dude’, was told he doesn’t conventionally look like a hero. So, I wouldn’t say only women go through this, but women face it far more. This, however, is not about man-woman. People should stop judging others for their appearances. We are public personalities, but we are not public property.

Oh, they call it light-hearted. In my case, they even said maybe I didn’t understand the question because I’m from Kerala, but I was brought up in Chennai and I speak fluent Tamil. When you don’t have valid points, you say things like, ‘You didn’t understand because you’re not from here.’ This is gaslighting. At one point, the vlogger even said, “The question was not to you, why are you reacting? Just calm down.” It was so patronizing. In fact, I even asked him, ‘Would you ask the hero this question? You’re asking the hero about my weight and you’re angry that I am responding.’

You haven’t asked me anything about my work, my preparation, my character, the challenges, nothing. You only asked about my weight, and that too to someone else, while I am sitting right there.’ He then said something like, “We can’t ask you (questions) about Donald Trump and Narendra Modi and politics, right? We can only ask you these kinds of things.” And I was like, what do you mean? I might know more than you. They assume women don’t read current affairs, that we’re just arm candy meant to look pretty.

The Hema Committee report, which has highlighted issues like sexual harassment, lack of basic facilities, gender bias, and pay disparities in the Malayalam film industry, is still making waves.

On Sunday, Rajinikanth was asked to comment on it. In a video shared by Polimer News, the Tamil superstar was asked if a similar committee should be set up to explore exploitation in the Tamil film industry. The actor first asked the reporter to repeat the question; when she said, “Hema Committee, Malayalam,” he replied, “I don’t know anything about that. Sorry,” with a smile.

Actor Samantha and the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) have asked the Telangana government to publish a similar report on the Telugu film industry. WCC had submitted findings two years ago but the government is yet to respond.

Filmmaker B Unnikrishnan, general secretary, Film Employees Federation of Kerala, has said that it’s undeniable that “strong alliances” exist between production houses with certain directors, writers and actors but they “are based on commercial interests”.

He added that denying the existence of casting couch in the Malayalam film industry would be “denying reality”. “This issue exists in every industry. We should take a stand against this practice in Malayalam cinema. While we might wish for a perfect, utopian future, achieving that ideal is very challenging,” he told Matrubhumi.

Actor Sreelekha Mitra has withdrawn from a seminar in Kochi (Kerala) which has now been cancelled. This comes after her allegations of sexual harassment against Malayalam director Ranjith.

She wrote on Instagram, “I had been hounded by press media across country narrating the said incident over n over n over again which took a heavy toll on me as it did back here when I took names of #bengalifilmindustry who’s who ..REMEMBER?”

Mitra added that she was “done giving any justification to anyone for my said act”, and concluded, “I needed a breather as I have my right to live My Life according to My Choice... I HAVE DONE MY BIT NOW LET ME BE.”

Actor Jiiva got into a scuffle with a reporter after being asked to comment on the report. When prodded about sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry, he said, ”Such issues don’t happen in the Tamil industry; they only happen in Kerala.”

Singer Chinmayi Sripada, who has alleged abuse at the hands of lyricist Vairamuthu in the past, shared Jiiva’s clip on X, writing, “I really do not understand how they are saying sexual harassment does not exist in Tamil Industry. HOW?! (sic)”

Pakistani musician Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s video apology on social media, after he was seen hitting a man with his slipper in a viral clip, has not convinced singer Chinmayi Sripada of his innocence. 

According to Sripada, the victim, Naveed Hasnain, reportedly Khan’s disciple, should not have accepted the oppression. “In the guru-shishya parampara, a lot of us are brainwashed into yes-manning whatever our guru says. Until we cultivate a worldview, we don’t realise that a lot of what our gurus have been doing is toxic,” she tells us. 

In the viral CCTV footage, Khan is seen beating his student while asking for a “bottle”. Explaining the situation in his video, the musician said the bottle had holy water and it was a “personal matter between an ustad and his shagird”. 

Sripada, who slammed Khan’s actions on X, feels the students submit because they are conditioned to think that speaking against their teacher is a huge crime. She also says “this sort of physical violence is not new”. “I’m glad this (video) came out because the kind of abuse that men and women go through under their gurus has never been documented,” she adds. 

The 39-year-old believes that in India, people just forgive and forget, especially fans, who “blindly worship them (the celebs)”.

The Mast Magan (2 States, 2014) hitmaker feels speaking against such offences comes with a cost, something she has faced personally. “There are risks involved when you speak the truth. I have faced a ‘work ban’ by the Tamil film industry, and I’ve been going to court for the past five-and-a-half years for this,” she ends.