Kollywood Confidential

The Tamil film industry recently clashed with the media over allegations of prostitution. But what’s the truth behind the fracas, asks PC VINOJ KUMAR

THEY CHANGED IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE, STRIPPED TO THEIR BONES WITH JUST THEIR MEAGRE UNDERWEAR, VALIANTLY TRYING TO PROTECT THEIR MODESTY, CONSTANTLY TRYING TO AVOID THE PROBING HANDS OF COSTUMERS WHO WISHED TO ‘MEASURE’ THEIR BUST SIZE BY RUNNING BOTH ARMS AROUND THEIR BUST LINE. SOME HANDS STAYED PUT AT THE WAISTLINE ON THE PRETEXT THAT THEY WERE MEASURING THE SIZE OF THEIR AMPLE, OVERFLOWING WAIST JUST SO THE GHAGRA WOULD FIT THEM

From Star Dust, by ROOPA SWAMINATHAN (Penguin, 2004) describing a Chennai shooting spot with Kollywood group dancers

A FEW WEEKS ago, the Tamil film industry and the Chennai media locked horns over a report in the Tamil daily Dinamalar. The report claimed that television actress Bhuvaneswari, arrested by the Chennai police’s anti-vice squad on October 2 on charges of running a brothel, had named other actresses as being involved in prostitution. Those named — some of them yesteryear heroines — denied the charge. An incensed film industry cried foul about its image being unduly sullied. Dinamalar’s News Editor B Lenin was arrested under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998, for publishing a false report. But the question remains: Is the Tamil film industry really squeaky clean?

At Koyambedu, Chennai’s main terminal for outstation buses, starry-eyed young girls arrive daily from distant small towns and villages with hopes of becoming movie stars. They come from all over Tamil Nadu and from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. Their destination is 6 km away at Kodambak - kam, the hub of Tamil cinema and also known as Kollywood. This is where popular studios such as AVM and Prasad are located and several actors, directors, and producers reside.

To cinema hopefuls, Kodambakkam is a dreamland that has made superstars of ordinary men and divas of village belles. It is at these studios that one Shivaji Rao, a bus conductor from Bengaluru, arrived in Chennai in the 1970s with a dream of acting in films and was transformed into the superstar Rajnikanth. It is here that former state chief ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa spent most of their early years under the arc lights before entering politics. Their stories are part of the Kodambakkam folklore and add to its mythical aura.

However, the untold, inside story of Kodambakkam is the plight of hundreds of women who failed to get their big break and settled for petty roles as extras – or junior artistes, in Kollywood parlance. Theirs is a wretched life, one that remains forever on the fringes of glamour and luxury. As the camera zooms in on the hero and the heroine, they are the blurred faces in the background – the vegetable vendor with his pushcart or the silent spectator in a fight scene.

TEHELKA spoke to some of these faceless women of the Tamil film industry, who work for meagre daily wages and engage in sex work to supplement their income. The women were glad for some media coverage and happy for its small dignity. They did have one request, though: “Please do not reveal our identities. We would lose our membership in the South Indian Film Artistes’ Association (SIFAA) if it becomes known that we have given interviews.” (All names have been changed to protect identities.) They told TEHELKA that they engaged in sex work since their income from films was too meagre to run their families. Till 2001, their daily wage was as low as Rs 100. “They increased our wages to Rs 150 in 2004. Now we get up to Rs 250-300,” says Rekha, who has been in the field for over a decade.

The women said that most fall into their male colleagues’ ‘sex-trap’ in order to get regular work. “Having to work mostly with male counterparts, we put up with the groping hands of make-up men and costumers. Their hands feel every imaginable part of our body. Freshers need to please them first if they want to get regular work. The only good thing in all this is that there is no free sex in the industry. Even your coworker pays for your service,” says Vani, a senior artiste.

GRADUALLY, MOST women shed their inhibitions and graduate to ‘servicing’ people from outside the cine field. “I have slept with assistant directors and some well-known actors, but nothing has been for fun. It’s always been for the money,” says Vani. All other extras TEHELKA spoke to said the same thing – we have no feelings; sex for us is a source of income.

Film historian Randor Guy says brothels have existed in and around Kodambakkam for ages. “A writer once commented about the Madras film industry back in the 1940s as a collection of pimps, prostitutes and perverts. Many of the juniors involved in the flesh trade come from Andhra Pradesh. At one time, agents used to stand in Chennai Central Railway Station waiting for women coming from Andhra seeking a chance in films,” he says.

THESE AGENTS, the junior artistes say, have snared many an innocent women from poor families into the flesh trade. Police sources acknowledge that several pimps operate in Kodambakkam. Kannada Prasad, a notorious pimp arrested in 2007, wrote his life story from jail for the Tamil magazine Nakkheeran. Revealing his links with powerful people in the state, Prasad claimed he had supplied leading actresses to many bigwigs, including an IPS officer and a political leader. In November 2008, Chennai suburban police arrested another pimp, Sona Lakshmi. “She said she used to deal with actresses many years ago, but claimed she had no contact with the film industry now,” says S Jeyakumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police.

A Chennai sexologist who wished to remain anonymous admits that people from the film and television industry consult him when they need to make difficult choices involving sexual compromises at work, but refuses to elaborate. Actress Revathi says the industry has to strongly address the issue of alleged sexual harassment of junior artistes. “There should be a counselling cell for women to register their complaints,” she says.

SIFAA president Sarath Kumar politely declines comment on the matter. He says, “The matter is subjudice,” pointing to the case filed in the Madras High Court by a journalist association, demanding action against certain actors who used derogatory language against journalists at a SIFAA meeting in the wake of the Dinamalar story. One only hopes this recent fracas compels some soul-searching in Kollywood on how it treats its professional women.

VIJAYA, 35
FIXES HER DATES IN RELIGIOUS CENTRES

IT IS now nearly five years since I entered the industry. My husband’s income was not sufficient for our family and we were struggling to repay our Rs 3 lakh debt, when an agent got me into this field. I regret my decision now. My life has been ruined. My husband died of a heart attack about two years ago. I have one son, for whom I am living in this world.

He was seven years old when I took him with me on my first outdoor assignment in Erode. I was happy because it was a 35-day contract. However, it was there that I had to make my first sexual compromise. The agent told me that the cameraman was interested in having me. I agreed reluctantly because of my family’s condition. I put my son to sleep and went to the cameraman. My life changed from then.

Sex became a source of extra income for me. I gradually developed contacts with people outside the industry. I don’t deal through any broker. Customers call me directly on my mobile and we fix up a place. Nowadays, I go out on an average with two or three clients in a month. We book rooms in religious centres like Tirupati or Tirutani and stay there as couples. I can’t believe that I am the same person who arrived in Chennai as an innocent village girl about seven years ago.

JANAKI,
38 LEARNT THE SORDID RULES OF THE GAME

I got married at 16 and divorced at 26. With two small children to look after, I started working as a housemaid. I became friendly with a cinema agent who said I could become a great star if I entered films. He said I looked pretty even though I was dark. He teased me saying the day was not far when I would be living in a bungalow and travelling in an expensive car like other stars. I fell for his words.

This was around 12 years ago. My first role was as a nurse in a television serial. The agent said I had to first do small roles. He said they would give me bigger roles later on. I trusted him. I was paid Rs 75 a day. I was initially shy when the make -up man used to put his hands inside my blouse and apply make-up over my breasts. But I learned quickly that one can’t make a fuss about these things in this field.

A week after I joined the unit, the agent informed me that the director was interested in meeting me. He advised me to adjust with him and do whatever he asked. He said he’d offer me a better role if I slept with him. I did. It continued for days, but no big role came. I was taken for a ride.

There was no looking back after that incident. I have learned the rules of the game. Extras like me can’t aspire for plum roles. I have no complaints against anyone, because I do what I do out of my own choice. I have slept with a few film directors, some of whom have a taste for women like me. They like us because we will do whatever they want of us.

I have never felt thrilled having sex with anyone in the industry. One famous director paid me Rs 2,000 for having sex with him. That was the highest amount anyone from the industry has paid me. The make-up men or costumers do not pay more than Rs 1,000. I started drinking only after entering the film industry. One good thing is that everyone prefers safe sex these days and uses condom without fail.

MALATHI, 36
‘ADJUSTED’ TO THE INDUSTRY ROUTINE OF SEX

I ENTERED the cine field about four years ago, after my husband’s untimely death. He was a lorry driver. He died due to excessive drinking. I was 32 when I lost my husband. My two children were small then. Having lost the sole bread-winner in the family, we were in dire straits. I had to feed the family, pay the house rent and find money for my children’s school fees.

That’s when a junior artiste living near us helped me get a job as an extra in the film industry. I didn’t know about the ‘adjustments’ to survive in the field. Nobody misbehaved with me or forced me into sex. But when I realised my earnings were not enough to run my family, I had to make a choice.

My life changed when a colleague asked me if I would be interested in going to a lodge in Mahabalipuram— a tourist spot about 50 km from Chennai — to entertain some people. She said I can earn some extra income. I agreed to it because I needed money badly for my children’s education.

Since then, sex has become routine. I have no feeling when I have sex. I only think about my children. They are studying in a convent in the city. For me, their future is more important than anything else. It is for their sake I am sleeping with all kinds of men, in all kinds of places. There are days when I return home after staying awake the whole night, dead tired, and my body aching everywhere – I cry silently wondering what kind of life is this. I wish I could sleep at home like any other woman and be a normal homemaker.

I have learned to ‘adjust’ with everyone in the film industry. However, people get bored with you after a while. They start asking you to find younger girls who would be interested in acting. Some women oblige them and bring in new girls. My conscience doesn’t permit me to do that.

My children know I am in the film industry, but they are not aware about the darker side of my life. I wish they never know about it. I am God fearing. I realise what I am doing is wrong. Sometimes I tell myself it would be much better if I get into another profession and earn money the hard way. Even if I earn less I can at least live in peace. But I am not sure if it will ever happen.

MINNI,
58 HELPS ORGANISE A SEX WORKERS COLLECTIVE

I CAME to Chennai from Kerala as a 22-year-old in the 1960s with my four little children after my husband deserted me. Now I am 58. I have worked in the cine field for over 30 years. When I entered the field, the extras were paid Rs 10 as daily wage, which was later increased to Rs 100.

Initially, I did try to make a straight living as an extra. But it didn’t work out. I had to change my policy. I have gone out with more men outside the industry than with those in the field. We get more money from outside customers.

I brought up my children with the money I made as an extra and the additional money I earned as a sex worker. My children are all now well settled. My son is in the Indian Army and two of my daughters are settled abroad. The media forgets that we too are human beings and we too have families. The papers publish photos of women caught in prostitution. It destroys the future of those women.

I am devoting more time for social service these days. We have set up a collective of sex workers from Chennai and few other districts. It is a collective of the sex workers, by the sex workers and for the sex workers. Our main aim is to prevent our children from entering the profession. The programme is working well.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 44, Dated November 07, 2009