The Telugu film industry, which spans Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, is as huge as its people’s obsession with cinema. It produces the largest number of movies in India: 317 out of 1,796 in 2023. It accounts for one-fifth of India’s box office revenue of Rs.12,226 crore. And these States house 1,709 of the 9,742 screens in the country. But beneath the glittering success story is a troubling reality whose ripples have begun to surface since the Hema Committee’s revelations on the Kerala film industry.
Production houses have suddenly begun to display details about sexual harassment redress mechanisms, and studios are reviving their Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs). The Movie Artists Association has requested the Telangana government to form a commission to study the grievances of women in the industry. However, as an insider told Frontline, people in the industry are being careful not to rock the boat too hard.
Over the decades, a few film families (Nandamuri, Akkineni, Daggubati, Ghattamaneni, Allu, Konidela) have dominated the Telugu film industry. Most of the industry bigwigs belong to the dominant Kamma, Kapu, Reddy, and Raju castes. The same castes control businesses and, most importantly, politics. The loyal fan bases too neatly align along caste and family lines. The digital boom has made the sector a little more welcoming of newcomers, and some big players have entered the market now.
But the Telugu film industry has always been a boys’ club, perpetually serving each new generation of men. Everyone outside this charmed circle is inconsequential, especially women. Victims of sexual exploitation and harassment are considered an inconvenient distraction from commercial interests. Sexual exploitation is characterised with phrases such as “casting couch”, which minimise the severity of the issue.
“Sexual exploitation is rampant,” said Jhansi, an actor and dubbing artist whose career spans three decades. She is a member of Voice of Women (VoW), an informal support group established by a few industry women following the short-lived “#MeToo” movement in 2018.
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Frontline spoke to a number of professionals, ranging from actors, assistant directors, and executive producers to writers, aged between 20 and 45, to understand the work environment in the industry. Sexual exploitation and harassment are often seen as inevitable realities that women must learn to navigate. The onus of appropriate behaviour is never put on men.
Divya*, who joined the industry six years ago, has established herself as a supporting actor. She has let go of at least 10 projects in the past few years because of the compromises demanded of her. “Passion”, “commitment”, “compromise”, “compro”, or sometimes just the letter C are code words for sexual favours in exchange for work.
Sravya is yet to find a toehold in the industry. Most of her casting calls are through her theatre network. She did not expect any foul play through known networks. However, to her surprise, she was asked how “passionate” she was. She let go of those projects.
Harshini Mekala, who worked for an NGO in Mumbai, always dreamt of becoming an actor. Since launching her career in 2019, she has played minor roles in theatre and low-budget films. Harshini is a trans woman, and conversations with men often turn to sex. “Men usually ask whether I can have sex the way a woman does,” she said.
The film industry’s prevailing ecosystem needs more than just pure talent, hard work, and endurance. “It is killing my soul, but I cannot go back to my family, nor do I have skills for any other job,” said a junior artist.
Effects of the #MeToo movement
The rot in the Telugu film industry became public when Sri Reddy, an aspiring actor, shared her experience during the “#MeToo” movement of 2018. The movement dissipated for a number of reasons, including blocking by the industry and a lack of media attention.
Most women who spoke up in 2018 were either supporting actors, junior actors, or dialogue artistes, and several lost their assignments, said A. Suneetha, an independent researcher. Some of them are now running beauty parlours, restaurants, and other small businesses. Some have moved to OTT platforms or work in smaller indie movies. Sri Reddy now runs a YouTube Channel while Meghana, another actor who spoke up, has not acted in any mainstream movie in over five years.
Left activists protesting against the glorification of cruelty against women in the 2004 Telugu film Madhyahnam Hatya, in Visakhapatnam. Telugu cinema produces some of the most sexist, misogynistic, and patriarchal tropes on screen. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak
“It is terrible to place all the burden on one person. There has to be a larger power group that is talking about the structural issues,” said Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda, who teaches cultural studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.
In 2019, following a PIL petition in the High Court, the Telangana government constituted a high-level committee to study gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the film and television industries. The committee comprised officials from the police, labour, women and child departments, members of film and television industries, and civil society members. A subcommittee of 25 members was formed, but sources say only 5 or 6 of them attended the meetings regularly. Industry bodies and unions resisted, but even when they eventually relented, no one came forth. Even those who had already spoken to the media did not depose before the committee. It appeared as though there was an unwritten gag order.
The report, submitted in 2022, revealed a “rampant” phenomenon of demanding sex for work, unequal pay, non-payment of wages, lack of contracts or their violation, and inadequate access to toilets and safe accommodation on the sets. Both VoW and civil society have been asking the Telangana government to make the findings public.
Highlights
- The Telugu film industry, spanning Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, is a major player in India’s cinema industry, producing the largest number of movies in the country. The “#MeToo” movement of 2018 exposed the rot in the industry.
- The report of a committee constituted by the Telangana government in 2019 revealed a “rampant” phenomenon of demanding sex for work, unequal pay, non-payment of wages, lack of contracts or their violation, and so on.
- Women make up only about 10 per cent of the industry’s workforce, with work and wages regulated and negotiated by 24 crafts unions. Women reported that unions are male-dominated and sometimes make it harder for women to enter the industry.
Internal Complaints Committee
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Act, 2013, mandates the setting up of an ICC at workplaces, but ICCs exist only in the big studios or production houses. The nature of work in films (for both actors and others) is often contractual and lasts only for the duration of the project. Many do not even get work contracts. Where women work outside the ambit of ICCs, Frontline found that verbal apologies were commonplace.
A VoW WhatsApp group is seen as a channel through which women can submit their feedback. There are also RedBoxes: complaint boxes placed visibly in multiple film studios and film industry associations in Hyderabad. VoW assures them that their identity will remain anonymous. But RedBox can only guide the federations and unions. It cannot mandate.
Women who spoke to Frontline have never heard about the subcommittee, VoW, or RedBox. Some did not even know there was a provision for an ICC. They thought a police station was the only place they could complain, and they did not want to do that.
The broader issue is about survival in a male-dominated industry. Since the 2018 shake-up, the industry has gone through perceptible changes. Women assistant directors are actively being sought out, and there are visibly more women in non-acting jobs, but their representation is still grossly inadequate.
A Telugu film shoot in progress at Vidyasagar Setu on the Hooghly river, in Kolkata, a 2007 picture. | Photo Credit: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
When it comes to directorial, editorial, writing, or other non-acting jobs, the prevailing notion is that women cannot make entertaining movies. Pingali Chaitanya is one of the handful of female scriptwriters and lyricists in the industry. It took time and hard work for her to reach thus far. “There is prejudice against women writers that they cannot bring audiences to the theatre,” Chaitanya said.
Vasanthi Nimushakavi, a professor of constitutional law at NALSAR, Hyderabad, interviewed 300 women for “A study of working conditions and applicable laws to women in the Telugu Film and Television Industry”, funded by the National Commission for Women. The study is yet to be published. According to Nimushakavi’s research, women made up only about 10 per cent of the industry’s workforce. Work and wages in the industry are regulated and negotiated by 24 crafts unions. These unions have an entry fee that is sometimes steep. An art director, removed from a big banner film, lost her job as she could not pay the Rs.7 lakh fee to the union.
Reinforcing patriarchal notions
While unions can be a safety net, women also reported that they are male-dominated associations and sometimes make it harder for women to enter the industry. The make-up artists’ union, Suneetha said, allowed women to register only as hairdressers in the industry. Equally, there are tensions between unions, and producers and over the years, the industry has worked to undercut the unions, Suneetha said. Suneetha was a member of the subcommittee constituted by the Telangana government.
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When critiquing the casteist and patriarchal underpinnings of the industry, it is crucial to examine the content it produces. The Telugu film industry routinely reproduces some of the country’s most sexist, misogynistic, and patriarchal cinematic tropes. Whether it is about the hero making jokes about raping the heroine (Jalsa, 2008), forcibly stripping the heroine (Bahubali, 2015), chasing the heroine to rape her (iSmart Shankar, 2019), elaborately enacting false rape accusations (Sarileru Neekevvaru, 2020), or threatening to rape the villain’s family members (The Family Star, 2024), the disturbing portrayals go on. As Suneetha said, somewhere there is a connection between what happens on the sets and behind the scenes and what we see on screen.
Media narratives about women also reinforce patriarchal notions. “Regardless of the fact that no blockbuster can do business without these women, their contribution is under-acknowledged (both by the public and in the way the heroines are paid). It doesn’t translate the industry into one that harasses women, but there are larger attitudes at play here,” said S.V. Srinivas, who teaches literature and media at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. “All of these can be contributing factors in shaping attitudes of both the film industry and the audience towards women in cinema.”
Some argue that state intervention is necessary to change the prevailing circumstances. “We need the subcommittee report and a mandate to ensure controlled auditions, CCTVs, helplines, redressal mechanisms, and swift measures,” said Jhansi. Others, like Vasanthi, believe that while legal enforcement and incremental changes are crucial, fostering dialogue within the industry is also vital to changing attitudes.
*Some names in the article have been changed to protect identities.
