For the first time in the Malayalam film industry, a women’s collective is being formed. According to a Southlive news report, actress Manju Warrier, national award-winning editor Beena Paul, filmmaker Vidhu Vincent, and actresses Rima Kallingal and Sajitha Madathil are the founding members of this organisation.
“We can’t share any detail at this moment since nothing is finalized yet. We have started brainstorming. We will be meeting the chief minister today evening,” Beena Paul told Silverscreen.in.
A press note will be released soon, she added.
Earlier, on March 8, 2017, on the occasion of women’s day, an organisation of women cinematographers in India was formed, called the Indian Women Cinematographers’ Collective (IWCC), and under the leadership of veteran cinematographer Fowsia Fathima.
The news of the formation of a women’s collective in Mollywood comes at a crucial time as it was just two months ago, on February 20, 2017, that a leading actress was abducted and molested in Kochi.
Manju Warrier, who is one of the most formidable stars in the Malayalam film industry at the moment, was one of the actors who took a strong stand on the issue, even as Mollywood’s official actors’ Association AMMA (Association Of Malayalam Movie Actors), advised women members to avoid travelling alone, in the wake of the incident.
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Subsequently, many artistes, including actress Sajitha Madathil, slammed the Association’s stance. “This has left me without a hope… Is AMMA saying that the safety of a woman artiste, who is working day and night, is not the association’s responsibility? Isn’t it the responsibility of the employer to ensure the safety of its employees in work-spaces?” asked Sajitha Madathil in a Facebook post. “It hurts to see an organisation in Kerala taking such a regressive anti-women stance in 2017!”