A female choreographer made sexual harassment allegations against Jani Master who is also the President of Telugu Film Dancers Association. The victim registered an FIR as well as filed a complaint with the Film Chamber about the same.
This has opened the Pandora box about the safety of women in the film industry. There are doubts if the Government and the industry as a whole is doing enough to keep the women protected here.
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Last month, Kerala Government released the Justice K Hema Committee report revealing the harassment faced by female actors in the film industry. The Government was sitting on the report for more than three years but had to release it finally after the state high court’s interference.
After the release of that report, several women artists have come forward revealing big names involved in the Sexual Harassment. And the issue is now rocking the Kerala Film Industry. But then, not many know that Telangana Government is also sitting on a similar report.
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The demand for a detailed investigation into MeToo incidents in Tollywood began in 2018 after actor Sri Reddy staged a semi-nude protest outside the Film in Hyderabad. Following her protest, the Women and Transgender People Organisations Joint Action Committee (WT-JAC) filed a PIL in the High Court of Telangana seeking an in-depth investigation into the exploitation of women in the industry.
The then KCR Government constituted a high-level committee in April 2019. Several actors and technicians from the Telugu film industry, police officials, and retired government officers were part of this committee.
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Later, they formed a sub-committee to gather detailed information on the issues and also come up with recommendations and legal recourse.
For about three years, the sub-committee held over 20 meetings with female junior artistes, supporting actors, dancers, and vulnerable groups in the film and television industries. The sub-committee on June 1st, 2022 submitted its report – “Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination in the Telugu Film and Television Industries”.
Since then, the government did not release the report.
Incidentally, Jhansi who is appointed in the Panel to look into the Jani Master’s case was also the part of the sub-committee that submitted its report to Telangana Government.
After the Hema Committee Report and the recent incident involving Jani Master, actress Samantha posted twice about this sub-committee report on her Instagram account. Barring her and some celebs who reposted Samantha’s message, the film and Television industries are largely not bothered about the report.
