Nakuul Mehta Stands By 'Revolutionary' Hema Committee Report, Pleads To Do More Than Share Posts

Celeb Reaction On Hema Committee Report: Nakuul Mehta took to his Instagram account to share a post shedding light on the Hema Committee Report. The 235-page report submitted on August 19 details shocking accounts of systematic sexual abuse and misconduct faced by Malayalam women artists. The findings of the report have set an uproar in the industry with demands for justice for the victims and harsh punishments for the accused. Days after the report was first published, popular Hindi television star Nakuul Mehta shared a post on Instagram highlighting the importance of understanding what is happening in the Malayalam film even if it does not impact others directly.  

Nakuul Mehta shares reaction on Hema Committee report

On August 31, Nakuul Mehta took to his Instagram stories to pen a long note about the importance of sharing the stories of victims and magnifying their voices to ensure a deeper impact. The actor wrote, “It takes a hot minute for us to share a #IStandWith post for anything heinous which shakes us as a society or affects our collective conscience. It may take a few more to learn about the struggles which women & men may be fighting in another part of our country which may or may not affect us directly.”

However, the Bade Acchhe Lagte Hain fame argued that sharing the stories would go a long way in seeking help and justice for the victims. He added, “But if you do choose to do that, you may actually end up moving the needle a tiny bit more than sharing one more solidarity story. ‘Let’s attempt’ to read, learn, be aware, have dialogues, understand and figure out ways in which we could offer any support to these revolutions. Let not their valiant efforts not be known to humankind. @wcc_cinema." The actor lauded the attempts of Women In Collective Cinema for their initiative and for helping bring forth the issues of Malayalam cinema.

What is the Hema Committee report- in the centre of the #MeToo storm in Mollywood 

The Justice Hema Committee was formed in 2017 and submitted its findings in 2019. However, it was made official only on August 19, 2024, that too a redacted version of the document with the names of the accused concealed. The committee comprised of a three-member panel of retired High Court Justice K. Hema, former actress Sharada, and retired IAS officer K.B. Valsala Kumari. They unveiled the systematic sexual abuse and discrimination faced by women artists in the Malayalm film industry. “In the course of the study, we understood that the Malayalam film industry is under the control of certain producers, directors, and actors—all male. They control the whole Malayalam film industry and they dominate other persons working in cinema,” the report states.

Among the 17 forms of exploitation experienced by women artists are listed below:

• A lack of basic facilities for women, including toilets and changing rooms at places of work.
• Women lack safety at their workplace and accommodation.
• The use of drugs and alcohol, disorderly conduct and misbehaviour at the place of work by men lead to gross indiscipline.
• Being subject to demeaning or vulgar comments at places of work.
• The non-execution of contracts between employer and employee to suit individual requirements.
• The failure to pay the agreed remuneration.
• Disparity of remuneration between men and women, and gender discrimination in remuneration.
• Resistance/reluctance to allow women to work on the technical side of cinema.
• Online harassment.
• Lack of legal awareness about their own rights.The absence of any legally constituted authority to redress their grievances.