Actor Radhika Sarathkumar commented on the cases of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, pointing out that such incidents are widespread across various film industries. During an interview with a news channel, she recounted a disturbing experience where she witnessed a group of men on a film set watching a video of a female actor in the nude, which they had surreptitiously recorded with a hidden camera in her vanity van.
Radhika Sarathkumar, who has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films, shared a troubling experience on Asianet News’ ‘Namaste Kerala.’ She recounted how she confronted inappropriate behavior on set after discovering a group of men watching a hidden-camera video of a female actor. Despite raising the issue and asking for further investigation, she was only assured that they would “look into it.”
She narrated, “While I was on a set in Kerala, I saw people gathered together and laughing at something. As I passed by, I noticed they were watching a video. I called a crew member and asked him what they were watching. I was told there were cameras in the vanity vans and footage of women changing clothes was captured using the same. I was told you should just type the name of the artiste, and you will find a video of them changing dresses. I saw the video.”
However, the actor refused to take any names. When asked which film she was referring to and who were the men involved, Radhika said, “If we spit looking upwards, it will fall on our face only. So I don’t want to take names”.
“Was scared to use vanity vans”
The senior actor added that she was so scared after the incident that she started using her hotel room for changing and was careful about her presence inside the vanity van. Radhika continued, “This system is wrong. After the incident, I told other female artists about the hidden cameras. I was afraid to go into my vanity van after the incident. It is a private space for us to change, to take rest, or to have food.”
She said she saw these videos herself and also confronted the men out there. Radhika also revealed that she even went ahead to warn them against fixing any camera inside her vanity van. “I have seen videos of women changing clothes in vans. I confronted the team and told them this was not right. I told the van team that I would hit them with chappals [slippers] if I found a camera in the vehicle. I was angry. I insisted that I wanted to be safe and didn’t want the van at all. They then told me that they will look into it,” she said.
The actor also questioned the delay in the release of the Justice Hema Committee. The final report which exposed several names involved in the sexual harassment cases in the Malayalam film industry was submitted to the Kerala government in 2019. However, the government kept it under wraps until recently.
“Why was there a delay in the Hema Committee report?”
Radhika talked about her own sexual harassment incident and said it has affected almost every woman working. Questioning why no man has come forward to call out these perpetrators in the industry, she said, “I was wondering why there was so much delay in the release of the Justice Hema Committee report. I have been in the industry for 46 years. Of course, there have been people who have tried to misbehave with me. Women should be empowered to say ‘No’ when such incidents happen to them. No man has said anything in any industry. So the onus is back on women. Now, they have to shoulder this responsibility of safeguarding themselves.”
Radhika is known to have worked in popular movies like ‘Theri’, ‘Chandramukhi’, ‘Pokkiri Raja’, ‘Chitthi’ and ‘Nallavanukku Nallavan’, among others. She has also worked in the Hindi movies ‘Himmatwala’, ‘Lal Baadshah’, ‘Naseeb Apna Apna’ and ‘Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai’, among others.