Published Sep 26, 2026 | 11:09 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 26, 2026 | 11:09 AM
Hema Committee Report
Synopsis: Titled “Malayalam Cinema: Hema Committee Paranjathum Sarkar Parayathathum” (Malayalam Cinema: What the Hema Committee Said and What the Government Didn’t Say), the book has been authored by former State Information Commissioner A. Abdul Hakeem, whose 5 July, 2024 order directed the disclosure of the report while safeguarding the privacy and safety of those mentioned in it.
Malayalam cinema could be bracing for another storm, with a new book on the Justice Hema Committee report set to hit the stands by the end of this month, promising fresh revelations on how the report was handled before and after it was made public.
Titled “Malayalam Cinema: Hema Committee Paranjathum Sarkar Parayathathum” (Malayalam Cinema: What the Hema Committee Said and What the Government Didn’t Say), the book has been authored by former State Information Commissioner A. Abdul Hakeem, whose 5 July, 2024 order directed the disclosure of the report while safeguarding the privacy and safety of those mentioned in it.
Published by DC Books, the work examines not only the explosive findings of the Hema Committee but also the events surrounding the prolonged battle to make its report accessible under the Right to Information Act.
Former Kerala High Court judge Justice Kemal Pasha has written the preface, examining the legal and social dimensions of the report and Hakeem’s order.
Among the most significant claims in the book is an alleged attempt within the State Information Commission to delay or prevent the release of the report.
Hakeem details what he describes as the “Three-Member Division Bench” episode, alleging that an unusual three-member panel was constituted when complaints were raised over incomplete disclosure of the report.
According to the book, applicants who paid for 233 pages received only 228 pages, with 15 paragraphs covering pages 49 to 53 redacted.
A complaint over the omissions was allegedly not forwarded to the officer handling the matter.
When the issue came up, the Cultural Affairs Department produced the complete report in a sealed cover.
Hakeem also claims that a hearing was postponed following a request from then Chief Information Commissioner V. Hari Nair, who was abroad, and that he was subsequently excluded from hearing the matter after the three-member panel was constituted.
The book further alleges that the Commission decided not to act on the issue until the LDF government’s term ended in May, after which it could be reconsidered.
With the Hema report having already triggered a reckoning over sexual exploitation, casting couch, discrimination and financial exploitation in Malayalam cinema, Hakeem’s account could reopen several unresolved questions over the report’s disclosure and the institutions involved.
It was in 2017 that Justice Hema Committee got constituted. The three-member panel comprised retired Kerala High Court Justice K. Hema, veteran actor Sharada and former IAS officer K.B. Valsala Kumari. The committee was set up following a petition by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), seeking an examination of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and other systemic problems confronting women working in Malayalam cinema.
The report, submitted to the state government in December 2019, was released on August 19, 2024, after extensive deliberations with certain portions omitted to protect the identities and privacy of individuals.
Among its most damning observations was the finding that women were allegedly expected to provide sexual favours as a means of securing opportunities and gaining entry into the industry.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
