Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA)
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History and controversies
As in 2024 Aug
Anagha Jayakumar, Aug 29, 2024: The Indian Express
The entire executive committee of AMMA was forced to resign after allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against prominent members of the Malayalam film industry surfaced in the aftermath of the publication of the Hema Committee's report.
A week after the report of the Justice K Hema Committee revealed rampant sexual exploitation and misconduct in the Malayalam film industry, the entire 17-member executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA), including its president, superstar Mohanlal, resigned their posts (August 27).
Following the publication of the report, allegations of sexual assault surfaced against AMMA general secretary Siddique and joint general secretary Baburaj. Police in Thiruvananthapuram filed a case of rape and criminal intimidation against Siddique.
On Monday, police in Ernakulam had filed a case of assault with intent to outrage a woman’s modesty against veteran director Ranjith. Faced with allegations, Ranjith had resigned as chairman of the state-run Kerala Chalachitra Academy the day before.
What did the Hema Committee report find?
Following massive public outrage against the abduction and sexual assault of a leading Malayalam actress in February 2017, the Kerala government that July set up a three-member committee led by Justice K Hema to inquire into the situation of women in the Malayalam film industry.
The committee held extensive interactions with several women in the industry on a wide range of issues, and submitted a 295-page report to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in December 2019. But it took until August 19 this year for the report to be released, after redactions to protect the identities of women who had confided in the committee.
The report notes the widespread culture of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, the presence of the ‘casting couch’, and widespread verbal abuse. The committee also found unequal pay and an absence of basic facilities for women, and a pervasive fear of retribution for attempts to seek redress legally or through other avenues.
The report says the industry is ruled by an all-male “mafia” comprising actors and producers, and “No man nor woman dare to utter any word which may offend anyone belonging to the power group, because such a person will be wiped off the industry by the powerful lobby.”
And what is AMMA, which was led by Mohanlal?
The association was formed in 1994 under the Travancore Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act, and comprises 498 members, more than 200 of whom are women.
AMMA looks after the well-being of its members — all of whom are current or former actors in the Malayalam film industry — through initiatives such as the Kaineettam welfare scheme, which offers financial assistance, and educational and healthcare support to ailing and senior members.
The AMMA website also lists the association’s support for the marginalised, assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic, charitable housing projects, and initiatives for women’s empowerment.
Mohanlal was elected AMMA president for a three-year term for the third time at a meeting held in Kochi on June 19.
Over the years, the association has been accused of overreach and of violating its own stated bylaws.
In 2008, AMMA, in an effort led by the influential actor Dileep, reportedly engineered a split in the Malayalam Cine Technicians Associations (MACTA), following a complaint by director Thulasidas. In the process, filmmaker Vinayan, who was MACTA general secretary at the time, was sidelined from opportunities, an allegation that he recounted to the Hema Committee.
AMMA and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) were subsequently fined by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2017.
In March 2010, veteran actor Thilakan was banned from the organisation for life after he criticised its functioning, especially the control that “superstars” had over the organisation. He also alleged that he had been unceremoniously removed from a film, and had been blacklisted from working in films and television serials.
What position did AMMA take after the 2017 sexual assault case?
The association initially stood with the actress who was abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of men while travelling from Thrissur to Kochi. But once it emerged that Dileep was allegedly involved, the association all but changed its position.
The victim had previously complained to AMMA about Dileep’s role in effecting a shadow ban on acting opportunities. The assault was alleged to have been ordered by Dileep as retribution for the role the actress allegedly played in the breakdown of his first marriage with actress Manju Warrier.
Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017. AMMA expelled him a day later. He was released in October, and AMMA reinstated him in June 2018. However, he eventually resigned from the membership, saying he would wait for his innocence to be proved.
AMMA was put under scrutiny by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) an independent group of 18 leading actresses and technicians who came together in May 2017 to rally support for the survivor. After AMMA decided to reinstate Dileep, four WCC members resigned their membership of the association. For five years, the WCC kept up the pressure on the Kerala government to release the report, angering powerful figures in the industry.
The Hema Committee has written: “WCC members…were all banned from cinema because they openly stated undesirable things that happen in cinema. They are practically kept away by those who are offended by what members of the collective stated openly against the atrocities in cinema and from AMMA.”
How did AMMA react to the contents of the Hema Commission report?
At a press conference on August 23, Siddique rejected the idea of a power group in the industry, and claimed that in all his years as an actor, he had never seen such a thing.
AMMA executive committee member and actress Jomol declared that she had never experienced sexual harassment. “No one has knocked on my door or asked to compromise if I want to do a film,” she said. She also rejected the accusation that WCC members had been denied acting opportunities.
Mohanlal has previously been dismissive of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by women. At a press conference in 2018, he had dismissed the #MeToo movement as a “fad” and “fashion”, and had subsequently said in an interview to Gulf News: “We (men) can also come out with a #MeToo, gender-wise… Only when you experience something like that, you can make a comment on it. Just giving a comment on it isn’t the right thing. I don’t know much about it (#MeToo).”
How AMMA lorded over Kerala cinema
Nikhila Henry, Aug 29, 2024: The Indian Express
From handing out bans to artistes who did not toe the line to adopting arm-twisting tactics, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) — the Kerala film industry body — acted as an all-powerful group whose clout extended over everyone from directors to top-rung actors and junior artistes.
Founded in 1994, the association has 498 members — 253 men and 245 women. AMMA limits its membership to established actors and doesn’t take junior artistes on board. Among its life-time members are several senior and retired actors, for whom the association holds charity events. Its website states, “AMMA stands as a powerful collective in the Malayalam film industry…with deep roots and broad reach”. However, with the resignations of several of its stars on Tuesday, the body now stands largely diminished. Speaking of the association’s clout, an AMMA member told The Indian Express that their “diktats” could change fortunes “overnight” in the film industry.
The report of the Justice K Hema Committee on the issues faced by women in the Kerala film industry, too, sheds light on the clout wielded by the body – from denying toilets to women artistes on the sets to arguing against the setting up of an Internal Complaints Committee on sexual harassment to illegally banning people, both men and women.
On the “illegal” and “unconstitutional” bans, the commission notes that AMMA was, ironically, founded to tackle illegal bans that actors used to face in the industry at a certain point in time. However, the report says, some members of AMMA later formed “a lobby” which then started handing out bans to people.
In 2017, after the abduction and sexual assault of a leading woman actor in Kochi, fingers were pointed at AMMA for not ousting a male actor who was accused of “conspiring and orchestrating the rape”.
The commission notes that members of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) – which was set up in protest against AMMA’s alleged inaction in the 2017 rape case – had to face the brunt after it took on the association. “None of them are given any chance to work in cinema. They are practically kept away by those who were offended by what members of WCC stated openly against atrocities in cinema and from AMMA,” the report reads.
The report also says that AMMA resisted the formation of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address sexual harassment charges levelled against its members. According to the report, in response to a petition by WCC, AMMA had argued in the Kerala High Court that it is not legally obliged to set up an ICC since it is only an association and “not an employer”.
“It was contented that…the activities of AMMA will not fall under the definition of workplace and there is no employer-employee relationship between AMMA and its members…” the report notes.
The report adds that though AMMA has one forum which is similar to ICC, “no woman has approached such a forum with allegations of sexual harassment. It is not because they have no grievance but, they are not willing to go to such a forum with the grievances for various reasons”.
The report also notes that ICC will not be a solution for issues faced by women in the industry because a “power group” in AMMA controls the industry and they can directly influence the ICC.
One of the AMMA members told The Indian Express, “AMMA had too much power over its members and the dissenters were always sidelined.” “AMMA has been at the forefront of illegal bans of people and it is only poetic justice that the body is now being disbanded,” said a director who faced an “unofficial” ban for 12 years.
On the turmoil that followed the release of the Hema Committee report and the series of allegations of sexual misconduct, an AMMA member had told the Indian Express on Monday that “the body is seeing unprecedented dissent from a section of its members”.
