A committee to probe instances of sexual exploitation and harassment in the Tamil film industry will be formed in the next ten days, said actor and Nadigar Sangam General Secretary Vishal on Thursday. Vishal was addressing the press on his 47th birthday when he was asked about the recent disclosures made by the Hema Committee report in Kerala , and whether a similar committee could be constituted in Tamil Nadu. “The Nadigar Sangam will form a committee in the next ten days,” Vishal was quoted as saying.
“Preparations are underway. An announcement will be made soon. It is our duty to do so.
” He stressed that the Nadigar Sangam, a union of actors in Tamil Nadu, is not just for the men in the industry. “It is also for women to know that there is someone there for them.” The report of the three-member Justice Hema Committee, formed in 2017, was released to the public on August 19, 2024, revealing shocking horrid tales of discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment of women in the Malayalam film industry.
The report, submitted by the committee to the Kerala government in December 2019, was released with limited redactions. It has subsequently stirred a nationwide reckoning about how women are treated across film industries in India. In Kerala, the executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) was dissolved amid growing allegations of sexual assault and misbehaviour raised by women against some of its members.
The resignees included AM.