How Women Actors in Bengali Film Industry Are ‘Silenced’

Varsha Sriram & Madhusree Goswami

[The Hema report came at a time when safer workplaces for women were under the spotlight over the RG Kar rape case.]

When Bengali actor Tanika Basu read parts of the Justice K Hema Committee report, which detailed how women working in the Malayalam film industry were asked to make ‘adjustments’ and ‘compromises’–euphemisms for sexual favours–it felt all too familiar.

“This is what most of us women artists go through on a daily basis... There is an understated expectation for ‘compromise’ or ‘sex on demand’ within the Bengali film industry, too. This systemic patriarchy, which has been normalised, is extremely problematic.”

The Hema Committee report comes at a time when the debate for safer workplaces is under the spotlight over the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

As the protests in the West Bengal capital continue to rage, at least five films, including Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Ei Raat Tomar Amar, Ron Raj’s Porichoy Gupta, Saurav Palodhi’s Onko Ki Kothin, and Krishnendu Chatterjee’s Jomaloye Jibonto Bhanu, have either been rescheduled or indefinitely postponed.

On 27 August, nearly 50 women artists from the Women’s Forum for Screen Workers also released a charter of demands advocating for safer working conditions in the industry.

“Sexual abuse and misogyny have been normalised in the Bengali film industry for years. I have been at the receiving end of such behaviour for years now. It is an open secret,” said Sreelekha Mitra, who is best known for her role in Once Upon a Time in Calcutta.

Mitra was among the first few to speak out and file a police complaint against Malayalam movie director Ranjith alleging misbehaviour, which forced him to resign as chairman of the Kerala Film Academy. Ranjith has denied the allegations.

Elaborating on the ‘understated expectation for sex on demand’, Basu, who has been in the industry for 10 years, said,

“In 2023, I was taken aback when a casting director sent me a form to fill up, below which there was a clause asking, ‘If I was comfortable in compromise’. When I asked him what it means, he said that he was surprised that despite working for years in the industry, ‘I did not know what that means’. He said that I needn’t sign it if I didn’t want to, but I was still shocked that this happened...”

Ananya Sen, who acted in A Suitable Boy directed by Mira Nair, admitted that as a male-dominated industry, patriarchy and misogyny are both ‘instilled’.

“A very senior actor in the industry would joke about how he used to shoot intimate scenes multiple times to touch a woman’s breasts. He has done that with me too. The irony is that after being felt up, I did not realise. I never spoke up, but maybe I should have. I understand that it is wrong...” Sen said.

When asked how ‘compromises’ would be asked for, “Samajdaro keliye ishare kaafi hote hai (a hint is enough for the wise)” is how Basu described it.

“People won’t use the word ‘compromise’ but will make it somewhat clear that you have to meet them and be available whenever they call you for a meeting late in the night. If you say no, you will be sidelined. You probably won’t get more work from that production house for the next couple of years,” said Tanika Basu.

The Hema Committee report, too, highlighted how women in the Malayalam film industry were scared to speak out over the “fear of being sidelined.”

“In most cases, when this (sexual misconduct) happens, women end up keeping quiet because of the fear... Going to the police is not the solution because most of the time, we are told that since we belong to the industry, this is bound to happen... ‘Then don’t do films’ is the response,” Sen said.

On 8 September, the Directors’ Association of Eastern India suspended a Bengali filmmaker after an actress approached the West Bengal Commission for Women, accusing him of harassment and indecent behaviour.

The filmmaker denied allegations, saying what was being construed as misbehaviour was “unintentional,” according to reports.

Women actors also highlighted how sexist jokes and body shaming were commonplace. Male actors and technicians feel “entitled to make lewd comments as jokes”. Tanika Basu recounted how she was denied movie roles because she was told that she was “not sexy or hot enough...” and that she would ‘not sell’.

“If you speak back to them, they call you ‘a feminist’ and brush it off as a joke. But why would you joke about it? Who is giving you this entitlement to body shame us? When they call us feminists, it is as if they are abusing us.”

Sen recounted how senior male actors, directors, and technicians talk about women and their body parts to their faces. “When you speak up, you are asked to take it as a joke and be alright with it...” she added.

Sen, who earlier worked as an assistant director, also highlighted the lack of basic facilities for women technicians in the film industry. “I remember when I was an assistant director, there would be no toilet. We won’t be able to use the bathroom for hours. We weren’t allowed to go and use the one which was in the actor’s vanity van,” she said.

Actor-director Parambrata Chattopadhyay, who’s known for films like Kahaani and Abhijaan, said, “Sexual harassment, unfortunately, has been normalised for decades in every single film industry.”

“Yes, there is misogyny, patriarchy and exploitation,” he conceded.

“As male members of this fraternity, we have certain responsibilities... I (an actor) cannot suddenly pass a comment to a woman (about her). The normalisation of these things leads to other incidents like a male co-actor knocking on a female co-actor’s door in the wee hours of the night (as was reported in the Malayalam film industry in the Hema Committee report).”

The women actors further highlighted the huge pay parity between male and female actors within the Bengali film industry.

“We as female actors want for our work to be consumed, not for us to be consumed,” added Basu.

Meanwhile, Rupanjana Mitra, a Bengali film and television actress, lamented that the conversation always ends at “we need better safeguards for women” but then “the cycle of abuse repeats”.

However, Sreelekha Mitra said that the discussion was taking place now since the spotlight is on violence against women.

Over the last few weeks, several actors, producers, directors, camerapersons, and technicians have joined the protests in Kolkata in large numbers.

On 3 September, the Mamata Banerjee-led government passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024, introducing the death penalty for the convicted perpetrator in instances when the assault kills or leaves the victim in a vegetative state.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Forum for Screen Workers on 27 August wrote to four bodies, including the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI), the West Bengal Motion Pictures Artist Forum, Eastern India Motion Picture Association, Tele Academy, and the West Bengal government asking for better working conditions for women.

Basu, Sen, and actor Churni Ganguly (who recently portrayed the role of Alia Bhatt’s mother in Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani) said, ‘the Hema Committee report had pushed women actors to come out and speak about the abuse they face’.

The FCTWEI, on 30 August, launched the SurakshaBandhu Committee to address and resolve complaints of sexual misconduct on film sets.

The association emphasised on the industry’s zero-tolerance stance on the mistreatment of women and assured that any complaints received would be treated with utmost confidentiality, and the identity of the complainants would be protected.

The Women’s Forum for Screen Workers recommended multiple suggestions to improve the working conditions of women in Bengali cinema, some of which include:

*    The need for an ‘intimacy coordinator’ or ‘intimacy director’ in film sets;
*    A 24x7 helpline for survivors of sexual harassment as an effective tool of ‘whistleblowing’;
*    Adoption of the widest possible definition of ‘workplace’ and ‘worker’ as laid out in the POSH Act, 2013;
*    Addressing gender-based violence in the workplace through the use of international regulations like the ILO Convention No. 190 [C190] which recognises the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment;
*    Regular awareness initiatives on the workers’ rights and procedures to seek justice when that right is denied without fear or favour;

Ananya Sen said, “She is looking forward to the creation of a body like the Women’s Cinema Collective (WCC) in Kerala”.

Ganguly pointed out that it is the collective responsibility of everyone on set to ensure “that a safe working environment is provided to women actors, technicians, and artists”.

[Courtesy: The Quint] 

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Vol 57, No. 14, Sep 29 - Oct 5, 2024