Urvashi on Ranjith, Amma issue

Chennai: Veteran actor Urvashi on Saturday said that the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) should take a stern stance on the Justice Hema Committee report which has documented the incidents of sexual abuse and gender discrimination in Malayalam film industry.
“AMMA’s stand should not be wobbly. It is high time the association interfered in the matter,” Urvashi told reporters in Chennai. She spoke to the media a day after AMMA general secretary and actor Siddique made a statement that the association welcomed the report and its recommendations. He, however, said the alleged incidents of sexual abuse were isolated cases.

“I heard Siddique’s comments. He might have been able to react like that since it’s the first response. However, AMMA cannot make any easy or wobbly stand. There are incidents (of sexual exploitation). Government has to bring in a system to prevent them. But the first step should be from AMMA,” Urvashi, a lifetime member of the association, said. She said as an association, AMMA should not say it cannot move legally.

Asked about the allegation against senior filmmaker and Chalachithra Academy chairman Ranjith by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra, Urvashi said, “a mature decision would be to step down and face probe.”
She was also critical of the state government’s stance that cases can be taken only if the actors deposed before the committee came up with formal complaints. “Isn’t the committee report a document,” she asked. Urvashi said she could protect herself from sexual abuse because she had her family and staff with her.

“It would be a huge lie if I say I did not have to face even a bad look after being in the industry all these years. But I had my people to look after me,” she said. Referring to a statement in the Hema committee report that a female actor was forced to do multiple retakes apparently after refusing sexual advancements, Urvashi said she knows such things happen. “It happens and has happened. I don’t want to hurt the family of those who have passed on,” she said.