Kerala MP and Malayalam actor Innocent is in the eye of a storm, with women in the film industry popularly called Mollywood up in arms over his comments on "casting couch" and "bad women" — his interpretation of promiscuous women.
Innocent, who is the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Thrissur in Kerala when he made these comments.
He had called the press conference to apologise on behalf of AMMA for the misbehaviour that occurred at the June 28 meeting of the association while discussions were on regarding the abduction and sexual assault of an actress in a moving car in February this year.
The apparent confession of the accused in the case is believed to have blown the lid off a scandal that has been festering in the dark underbelly of the Malayalam film industry for years now.
The controversy
It was while speaking at this press conference that Innocent said: "The Malayalam film industry is clean now and no such thing as casting couch exists in the industry... It is not like the yesteryears."
Casting couch is a euphemism for sexual harassment of aspiring and budding actresses in film industries. That Innocent said Mollywood is "clean now" could hint at the existence of this casting couch earlier.
He went on to add: "The situation today is such that if there is any bad behaviour towards any women, the media will know immediately. But if the woman is bad, maybe they will go to bed."
The protest
The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) — a grouping of women who work in Mollywood — was quick to react to this statement and call out on Innocent's possible misconceptions.
"Even though we thank Innocent for the nice words he spoke about WCC, we are forced to strongly disagree with his remark that casting couches no longer exist here. The power structures that exist in a society exist here [in the industry] too. Many newcomers to the industry are exploited in many ways," the group said in a post on its official Facebook page.
They added: "Only recently have our own members Parvathy and Lakshmi Rai spoken vociferously on this topic. We want the newly-appointed Justice Hema Commission, which is studying the issues of women in the film industry, to look into this aspect as well."
Read their entire post here:
Others speak up
Others in the industry have also spoken up against Innocent following his remarks on Wednesday. These included director Vinayan TG who said Innocent's comments on bad women were akin to a crime.
Writing a lengthy Facebook post, he also accused Innocent of insulting all the young actresses in the industry who were trying to expose one of its ills. vinayan also reminded Innocent that he was an MP, and such misogyistic statements were not expected from him.
Read Vinayan's full post here:
Actress Rima Kallingal also took to Facebook to slam Innocent, but did not name the actor in her post on the social media platform.
Instead, she chose to write: "When you are so inherently part of a system that holds women accountable for having to sleep around for a job opportunity, rather than the men who ask for that 'favour'. [sic]"
She added: "When you are so blinded by your privilege and entitlement that you think every woman out there can hold a press conference when her rights and her being are violated. [sic]"
Read her full post here:
