Suhas Yellapantula (BOMBAY TIMES; April 14, 2018)

Hours after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Government of Telangana and the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting over reported sexual exploitation of women in the Telugu film industry raised by actress Sri Reddy, the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) did a complete U-turn and revoked their ban on the actress. She is free to act in movies, they said. This decision came after suggestion by industry ‘peddalu’ (bigwigs), who said that “Sri Reddy was a member of the film family.”

“Just because she has made a mistake, we are not the kind of people who hold a grudge. In fact this afternoon, the industry bigwigs had asked us to ensure Sri Reddy remains a part of this industry and I felt really happy to hear them say that. From this moment, everybody is open to working with her and we are there for Sri Reddy for any help she needs. She is free to approach me,” MAA President Sivaji Raja said.

However, when asked if MAA will act on Sri Reddy’s claims of sexual harassment, Sivaji continued to shirk responsibility. “If she has any complaints, she can go to the police and they can deal with the situation separately. The association has nothing to do in this matter. And while we welcome Sri Reddy, we can’t guarantee that she will be flooded with roles. Ultimately, it is the producer or director who decides whom to cast in their film,” he said.

Sri Reddy, however, has maintained that her fight is far from over. “They have not done me any favour by revoking this ban. By ‘allowing’ me to act in films, which is my right, it is as though they are trying to assuage the situation by throwing alms at me. There was not one mention about putting safety mechanisms in place for women. Today, the industry is so unsafe that women are willing to enter a prostitution ring, but not the film industry,” Sri Reddy shared, adding that not even 20 per cent of her protest is finished with this. “They feel that by holding a press conference and by making these statements, they can absolve themselves. But hundreds of people continue to suffer injustice in the film industry and until a proper system is put in place, the fight will continue,” the actress added.

P Pavan (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 13, 2018)

Hours after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) slapped notices on the Telangana government and the Information & Broadcasting Ministry on the alleged sexual exploitation of women in the Telugu film industry, the Movie Artists Association (MAA) has withdrawn its ban on Tollywood actress and #MeToo campaigner Sri Reddy. It also lifted the restrictions on all its 900 members from acting with Sri Reddy. The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce also announced the setting up of a Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) at workplaces to deal with complaints of sexual harassment.

MAA president Sivaji Raja, Producers Council president Thammareddy Bharadwaja, and other senior leaders addressed a joint press conference on Thursday, responding to the NHRC notices. “We withdraw our Monday’s decision not to give her membership in MAA and advise her to apply for it. The screening committee will take a decision at its tri-monthly meeting,” announced Sivaji Raja, adding that MAA members are free to act with her. “Sri Reddy is our sister,” he declared. He also said that director Teja had assured MAA that he would honour the agreements he had signed with the actress for two films. “She will continue to get roles,” he added. Bharadwaja assured that they will be setting up the Committee Against Sexual Harassment within four days (CASH), which is mandatory as per the Supreme Court directive and also in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.

This comes as a victory for Sri Reddy whose protest against alleged casting couch and sexual harassment of women in the Telugu film industry began with a semi nude dharna in front of the MMA office in Hyderabad on Saturday. It was followed by the association’s ban.

Suhas Yellapantula (BOMBAY TIMES; April 10, 2018)

The controversy surrounding TV presenter-turned actress Sri Reddy and her fight against Tollywood’s casting couch menace only seems to be getting bigger. What started out as an actress speaking out on social media about the exploitation of women in the Telugu film industry, has now turned into a full-blown war between Sri Reddy and the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA). Sri Reddy’s nude protest on the streets — outside the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce in the plush locality of Film Nagar — has gotten the country to sit up and take notice and prompted MAA to finally break its silence over the controversy, which has been raging for nearly a month now.

MAA dismissed Sri Reddy’s allegations as a “cheap publicity stunt” and declared that she will not be given MAA membership under any circumstance. “Not only this, action will be taken against any artiste who decides to share screen space with her,” MAA President Sivaji Raja threatened.

Not one to back down, Sri Reddy questions the legality of the ‘ban’ against her. “On what basis will they ban me? They have no right to do so. As a woman, I have the right to protest and to speak my mind. How dare they ban me and threaten other artistes?” she fumes.

WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO STOP ARTISTES FROM WORKING WITH SRI REDDY: MAA PRESIDENT
Slamming Sri Reddy for her “publicity seeking stunt”, MAA President reiterated that she will not be given membership and that the association is well within its rights to prevent their artistes from working with her.

“First of all, she isn’t even our member, so there’s no question of us banning her. As per our by-laws, we have the right to tell our artistes not to work with Sri Reddy. We will now take the legal route to deal with her. We’ve already filed a police complaint against her and will be taking legal action,” Sivaji states, adding condescendingly, “Anyway, who would want to make a film with her? Have you seen her? The way she is behaving is embarrassing.”

When asked why she has been denied membership, Sivaji says, “Why is she speaking about membership after five years of being in the industry? We had considered her application, but she has shown an utter disregard for our rules and we’re well within our rights to deny her membership.”

Sri Reddy, however, feels that she’s being denied membership only because she has been asking uncomfortable questions. “By denying me membership and preventing other artistes from working with me, they are sending out a message to all women that this is what will happen to them if they speak up about the harassment and abuse that they face. But I will not be deterred. Let them bring their lawyers, I will bring mine,” she retorts.

WHY IS MAA STILL SILENT ON CASTING COUCH?
The actress, who has been raising the issue of casting couch, and the physical, mental and sexual harassment of women in the Telugu film industry for over a month, said that MAA representatives are yet to address the issues she has raised.

“They held an hour-long press conference and said all sorts of things against me. But they didn’t say a word about casting couch, sexual abuse and other issues that I have raised. In fact, the only reason they are even speaking now is because my protest has reached the national media and they cannot avoid it anymore. This is nothing, but a face-saving attempt from them. But I’ll continue to fight,” Sri Reddy says, defiantly.

WE ARE HERE TO LISTEN TO WOMEN: MAA PRESIDENT
When probed, MAA representatives stated that the association is always ready to “listen to women and their grievances” and that they had solved many issues in the past. Sri Reddy, however, questions why there isn’t a Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) in place? “Why is there no CASH in the film industry? Lots of women face harassment on the sets of a film too. A director may ask them to wear clothes they may not be comfortable with, an actor might touch her inappropriately, a spotboy might stare at her creepily — who will they complain to then? After 9.30 pm, most MAA members are not reachable. Shouldn’t there be a separate committee to look after women’s safety?” Reddy questions.

MAA President Sivaji Raja acknowledged this issue finally, and confirmed to us that they are thinking of setting up a CASH committee now. “We are in talks with our lawyers regarding the legal procedure and the committee will be set up. Until then, we are always here for women and they can feel free to approach us with any concerns they may have,” Sivaji said.

I’VE BEEN ASKED TO VACATE MY HOUSE. THE BIG PEOPLE HAVE STARTED PLAYING THEIR GAMES: SRI REDDY
On Monday, the actress was apparently asked to vacate her house by her landlords. “My address has been leaked online by someone and a bunch of people came here and asked the landlord to remove me from the house. The big people have started playing their games already,” she says. Urging the Telangana government to break its silence, she adds, “All I have been saying from day one, is that women feel unsafe in the film industry, local talent is being ignored and actresses are being sexually harassed. Because of this, people are targeting me. The Telangana government has conveniently avoided the issue. Why is K T Rama Rao, who speaks so much about women empowerment, silent today? Why isn’t Kavitha, who claims to be a symbol of strength for women in the state, not reaching out when I’m protesting in the nude? What will it take for this government to react?” she asks, helplessly.

With Sri Reddy continuing her protest and taking her movement to the national stage, it remains to be seen if the government will step in and find a solution.

Tollywood actress Sri Reddy stripped to protest against the sexual harassment women face in their industry
Suhas Yellapantula (BOMBAY TIMES; April 9, 2018)

A controversial TV presenter-turned-actress, Sri Reddy, has been making sensational allegations against the casting couch menace in the Telugu film industry, decided to take her protest to the next level on Saturday. Demanding justice, she staged a dharna outside the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA) headquarters in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, vowing not to budge until she got a solution. And when no one paid heed, she stripped right there, in the middle of the road, and sat down in protest bare-chested. “This is the only way I can get them to listen to me. I have had to strip in front of several people in the film industry who promised work. Yet, I got no roles. I have been shouting from the rooftops about the injustice that has been meted out to me and to several other women in the film industry and yet, I have not got any response from MAA. So I have decided to strip publicly,” she said.

Chaos erupted soon after, both outside MAA office from where the actress was whisked away, as well on social media, where the whole episode played out live. And the internet came out in full force, all fangs bared, to judge, shame, blame and joke about the “striptease”.

“For God’ sake plz leave this industry (sic),”a Twitter user commented. Several others reacted with a facepalm or an “OMG”. Social activist Sunitha Krishnan opined, “Just because she’s a woman, it doesn’t mean she is holier than thou. Casting couch exists in all film industries, but I have serious doubts about her allegations.”

But even Sri’s protest is being dismissed as a publicity-seeking ‘stunt’, it can’t be denied that for the first time ever, there is a voice being raised against the sexual predators in Tollywood. It cannot be denied that this shocking protest does raise some uncomfortable questions which remain unanswered.

WHY IS THERE NO ‘CASH’ IN TOLLYWOOD?
A Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) is mandatory in any workplace, which has more than 10 employees. And yet, the film industry seems to be exempt from this rule. In fact, Tollywood seems to run on its own set of rules, and there is no platform for women to air their grievances. Given the sheer number of people who are employed in the film industry, the fact that there is no CASH is a cause for concern. Filmmaker Nandini Reddy, agrees. “We definitely need a CASH to be set up in the film industry. There are so many associations today, but the real issues get sidelined. Actors do face issues of harassment and these associations will have to set up a CASH committee. In fact, it was something that we were discussing a few days ago, and hopefully it will take shape soon,” she says.

WHY IS ‘MAA’ SILENT?
The protesting actress alleges that she has been denied membership of the Movie Artistes’ Association despite having acted in three films. The actress said that she was not given a membership card even though she had applied for it. But what’s more worrisome is that MAA — which was instituted for the welfare for cine artistes — hasn’t issued any comment on the issue, even though the actress has been making serious allegations for more than a fortnight. When contacted, MAA president Sivaji Raja feigned complete ignorance of any such issue. But the actress had just stripped naked in front of the MAA office, we pointed out. “I’m shooting right now and I’m not aware of what is going on (at the office). I wouldn’t like to comment on this,”said Sivaji, distancing himself from the controversy.

WHY ARE WOMEN IN TOLLYWOOD SILENT?
When a TV news anchor abused actresses in Tollywood on-air recently, actresses like Lakshmi Manchu, Rakul Preet and Lavanya Tripathi took to Twitter to slam him and strongly voiced their views against such behavior. However, when a female colleague from the fraternity — never mind how small — has been crying hoarse about harassment, not a single actress has come out with a word in support or solidarity. In fact, the only two cents Rakul Preet could give on the issue was that she didn’t face any such incident. “I’ve been in this industry for seven years and I have always been treated well. I don’t know if casting couch exists or not, but nobody has tried to act funny with me,” Rakul had said. None of the “victims” who the protesting actress claims have gone through similar forms of sexual abuse in Tollywood have come forward to support her in the cause either. Even on Saturday, she was the lone protestant. “I feel alienated. Nobody wants to come forward, which is why I have decided to take this step (of stripping),” the actress shared.

WHERE ARE THE MARD’S OF TOLLYWOOD?
Superstar Mahesh Babu supported Bollywood’s star Farhan Akhtar’s MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination) initiative to spread awareness about gender inequality and rape through social media. A poem, penned in Hindi by Javed Akhtar was translated into Telugu, and Mahesh Babu even lent his voice to the Telugu version. It was also shared by several other film stars in Tollywood on social media. And yet, when allegations of sexual harassment and abuse are being made against people from their own fraternity, Tollywood’s big stars are curiously silent. Will the big boys speak up?

WHY DO WE THINK IT’S OK TO SAY, ‘THIS WILL HAPPEN TO WOMEN LIKE SRI REDDY ’COS THEY ASK FOR IT’?
The sheer number of comments online that imply that ‘women like Sri Reddy ask for it’, is appalling. Judging a woman for the clothes she wears, the language she uses or her mode of protest and then saying ‘she is like that, she deserves it’ is akin to justifying violence against women. The focus should be on the issues that she has raised and not the manner in which she did. “There is nothing shameful about her mode of protest. It was a strong statement she made; she’s saying, ‘See! This is the same body that you make use of and have no respect for. So take it as a sign of protest now.’ The society, MAA and we have all pushed her to take this extreme step,” says Devi, a women’s rights activist. “A lot of people are taking the liberty to comment on her character and saying that a girl of ‘this sort’, ‘this type’ deserves it. I want to ask them clearly, what sort of men does the industry have? Starting right from the make-up boy to the actor to the financer, everyone treats women like they’re mere bodies,” she added.

CAN’T ‘SHE TEAMS’ STEP IN AND ASSURE A HARASSMENT-FREE FILM INDUSTRY?
Officers from She Teams explain that while they are open to listening to grievances about any issue that women face, they may not play a huge role of removing casting couch from the industry. “Our role is more focused on issues like eve teasing and public harassment, whereas casting couch happens within the boundaries of four walls. In the capacity of She Teams’ role, we can work on the aspect of awareness around sexual harassment at workplace. In the light of this issue though, we can come up with a plan by possibly coordinating with the film fraternity and the unions. However, it goes without saying that any woman with any complaint would be given due priority and her issues would be addressed. All women need to do is approach us and we will ensure their case or identity do not come into the fore,” said Shikha Goel, officer with She Teams, Hyderabad.

FINALLY, IS CM KCR LISTENING?
Unable to get justice anywhere else, Sri Reddy has been vocal about wanting K Chandrasekhar Rao to step in and help Telugu girls looking for work in the film industry.

On Friday, a day before her unique protest, Sri Reddy made a plea on her Facebook page, asking KCR to intervene: “Kcr garu Meru ma badha ardam cheskopothe, nirahara deeksha chestha (If you don’t understand my problem, I’m going to fast),which was following by u, and u were succeed..if u can't see it still, then I wl take a next step that I wl stand nude in public sir..please wake up..I dnt even know how to meet u sir. (sic)”

Sri Reddy has now gone ahead and stripped naked on the streets of Hyderabad’s posh Film Nagar locality. It remains to be seen if the Chief Minister takes notice of her protest and the issue she has raised.