Samantha Ruth Prabhu, a big name in the Indian film industry, has shared her viewpoint on the recently released Hema Committee report. She took to Instagram and has requested the Telangana government to release the report on sexual harassment in the Telugu film industry to create a safe environment for women to work. In her Instagram post, she said how women of the Telugu film industry are appreciative of the Hema Committee report and are lauding the efforts of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) in Kerala, who have become the torchbearers of the whole initiative. She also shared about the support group for women in the Telugu film industry, The Voice of Women, that was created in 2019.
An excerpt from Samantha Ruth Prabhu's story, "We, the women of the Telugu film industry, welcome the Hema Committee report and applaud the persistent efforts of the WCC in Kerala, which has laid the path to this moment. Taking cue from the WCC, The Voice of Women, a support group for women in the TFI, was created in 2019."
For the uninitiated, the findings of the Hema Committee report have sent shockwaves throughout the entire country and in the entertainment news world. On February 17, 2017, a well-known Malayalam film actress was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted in her car by a group of men while she was travelling from Kochi to Trissur. Actor Dileep and 12 others were arrested for their involvement in the crime. In response to this incident, WCC was formed. On May 18, 2017, the WCC asked the Kerala Chief Minister to investigate the incident and look into broader gender issues in the film industry.
In July, the state government set up a three-member committee led by retired Judge K.H. Hema to examine sexual harassment and gender inequality. After talking to many women in the industry, the committee submitted a 295-page report to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in December 2019.
The report revealed widespread sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, including casting couch practices and inappropriate behaviour by male co-actors. It also pointed out the existence of a powerful all-male mafia that controls the industry and silences any opposition. Additionally, the male-dominated industry often fails to provide basic facilities for women, such as toilets and changing rooms on film sets, according to the report.
Coming back to Samantha, she was also in the news recently after ex-husband Naga Chaitanya recently got engaged to Made in Heaven actress Sobhita Dhulipala.
