Malayalam film industry needs its 'ikkas' and 'ettans' to act now over drug menace

It didn’t need Vincy Aloshious’ statements for Kerala to find out that the Malayalam film industry is having a clear problem with drugs. That the problem has been there for quite some time has been known to all – it’s just that those who hold the levers of power have taken a deaf-and-mute stance.

Credit is due to Vincy for having the guts to air her views – especially at this stage of her career. But the drug menace in Malayalam filmdom was always someone else’s problem until now – and the ones at the top of this industry made sure no one could do anything about it.

Get the police to do spot checks on film sets? No way! That would get in the way of the creative process.

Make sure the habitual drug offenders in the film industry are not signed up for any work until they clear their sense? Again, no way! That would only stigmatize those poor souls is how the film industry spins it.

So, the likes of Shine Tom Chacko and Sreenath Bhasi continue to get plum roles in Malayalam movies. Even if there are now reports of producers being told to double up as drug suppliers too…

The leading stars and their can’t-get-any-work groupies are yet to give their thoughts on what Vincy had to say. Maybe, their PR machines are yet to come up with pithy sound-bytes for these stars to mouth off. And what can these people even

Yes, there have been some industry chaps who have rushed to give their ‘unreserved support’ to their ‘sister’ who had the courage to say something is well and truly rotten in the world of Malayalam movies. And quite the insular world it is.

A world where A.M.M.A., the Malayalam actors’ grouping, would say they are all for saving the rights of victims in sexual assaults – but then make sure that none from their ranks sign up those actresses in their films. (Maybe, not offering them work is one way of making sure these women never get troubled further when on the set.)

Let’s hope that Vincy will still have roles written with her in mind. Let’s hope that there will be the brave producers and directors willing to work with her. Sure, she debuted as recently as in 2019, but her body of work to date has shown she’s got the acting mettle.

But it will not be as easy to clean up Malayalam film industry and a work culture that gives new meaning to utter toxicity. Don’t expect the producers’ grouping to come up with any meaningful solutions. At the first sneeze from any actor with clout, the producers will forget any of their intentions to clean up the industry.

But there are ‘Ikkas’’ and ‘ettans’ who can actually do some good – if they are convinced they need to do the right thing. They were silent during the sexual assault crisis last year – will they do the same on the drug menace?