Malayalam actress Charmila accuses producers of sexually abusing her 27 years ago

Amid the ongoing controversy over sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry, another actress, Charmila, has accused a film producer of sexually harassing her about 27 years ago.

According to a report by CNN News 18Charmila said, “I had a traumatic experience in the Malayalam film industry. It was during the shooting of 'Arjunan Pillayum Anchu Makkalum'. We had to shoot a song in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. After the three-day shoot was completed, the production manager asked me to meet the producer before I left. I asked my assistants to come with me as I don't go anywhere alone.”

However, the manager stopped the assistants from accompanying her, but she took her assistants with her anyway, Charmila added.

“When I entered the producer's room, seven to eight of them were drinking. One of them lunged at my assistant and tried to remove her sari and the other one came towards me. My male assistant tried to stop him and was beaten,” she further said.

“Meanwhile, another guy grabbed my hand. I bit him, ran out of the hotel and asked for help. A group of autorickshaw drivers came to my aid. With their help, I called my father, who contacted Kalaignar's wife Rajathi Ammal, and the police came,” the report quoted Charmila as saying.

The Malayalam actress claimed she lost 28 films because she refused to “conform”, a code word for demanding sex in return for working in films.

She narrated another incident, “Malayalam director Hariharan met me along with actor Vishnu. We had coffee, discussed the script and he (Hariharan) bid me farewell in a nice way. Later, he called Vishnu and asked him to tell me to 'adjust'. Vishnu told Hariharan that I will not 'adjust' and we both lost the film offer.”

Charmila praised the Tamil film industry and said it was better and the Nadigar Sangam provided a safe environment for women artistes.

“In my experience, the Tamil industry is better and the Nadigar Sangam is ready to do its best and protect actresses,” she said.