Women hair and makeup artists in Malayalam cinema pay the price for speaking out

Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual harassment

Three years ago, while she was working as a hairstylist for a small-budget Malayalam film, Lavanya* was allegedly molested by a makeup assistant on the set. She shouted at him that day. “I was in tears. I warned him in no uncertain terms that he should not dare do this again. I told him I knew how to give him a tight slap, that I had come here to earn a living and to leave me alone,” she told The News Minute.

Her husband soon called up a senior makeup artist, an office-bearer of the All Kerala Cine Makeup Artists and Hairstylists union, and informed him of the assistant’s misbehaviour. The AKCMH is one of the 21 unions affiliated with the Film Employees Federation of Kerala, the apex body for the welfare of professionals and technicians working at various levels of the Malayalam film industry.

However, nothing much came of the call, Lavanya said, and within days, the man who molested her allegedly transgressed again. 

After the Hema Committee report put a spotlight on the power abuse and abysmal working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry, many had hoped that the moment of reckoning had arrived. Several women including Lavanya shared their traumatic experiences through the media, optimistic that a long-due systemic change was finally in the offing. 

But even in their moment of vulnerability, what they faced was ostracisation from FEFKA — the trade union supposed to protect them.

On August 28, nearly 10 days after the release of the report, FEFKA had said in an official statement that it would extend legal and psychological support to any survivor who required it. The union also said that it hoped that the mass resignation of the executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) “would be the beginning of a revolutionary course correction of the organisation.”

But over the next few days, FEFKA changed tack. On September 12, FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan held a press meet criticising the Hema Committee report for the way it selected its respondents. Though several FEFKA members including Unnikrishnan had deposed before the committee, he demanded to know why the general secretaries of FEFKA, the biggest trade union federation in Malayalam cinema, were not included in the consultation.

That wasn’t all. A few days before that, in a meeting with several women union members on September 1, FEFKA’s leaders accused the makeup artists and hairstylists who spoke to the media of “conspiring to destroy” the union, questioning why the women appeared in front of the media instead of directly going to the police when the instances of harassment happened.

Speak out and face retaliation

“Many of us have long wanted the world to know what we go through, but our social and financial positions don’t allow us to speak out. We are still struggling to find jobs. That’s why when the Hema Committee report was released and many women started to share their experiences, several of my colleagues and I felt this was finally our chance to be heard. We hadn’t even discussed this with each other. I searched on the internet for phone numbers of news channels and voluntarily shared what happened. It was only after we heard about other people’s experiences through the media that we began contacting each other,” Lavanya told TNM.

However, the union’s response, she alleged, was not to usher in that much-needed reform, but to shut them down and ostracise them.

On September 1, the FEFKA’s office bearers invited the union’s women members to a meeting. Faiza*, a hairstylist and an AKCMH member, said the union had claimed to want to talk about the Hema Committee. But rather than listen to their concerns, she said, “the meeting was meant to be a warning to those of us who spoke up.”

Sajitha Madathil, actor and WCC founding member, said she was glad when FEFKA released an official statement welcoming the Hema Committee on August 28, though it had come after a delay. “But FEFKA’s focus at the September 1 meeting, according to some women who attended, was apparently on how these allegations would affect its own reputation. The ideal response would have been to examine if it has a system in place such as an Internal Committee to address these issues,” she said.

At the meeting, which was headed by general secretary B Unnikrishnan, dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi took up the responsibility to school the ‘dissenting’ women. Multiple women TNM spoke to said that Bhagyalakshmi, a former office bearer with FEFKA, said that those who spoke to the media were “lying on their back and spitting” (malarnnu kidannu thuppuka) — an expression in Malayalam that indicates they are digging their own graves.

Bhagyalakshmi has since denied making the “spitting” remark and threatened legal action against those who made the allegation, even stating that she can produce the video recording of the event to prove she had said no such thing. In a later Instagram post, the dubbing artist said she had ‘only’ told the women that they should have gone to the police with their complaints instead of the media, and that her words were being twisted. “Luckily, I’m not a man. Otherwise, this girl (who accused her of making the controversial remark) would have said that I molested her,” she wrote.

Faiza pointed out that they were small-time technicians, “essentially nobodies” in this massive industry. “Do we have a space to speak out here? Even if we do, will we get justice? Will anyone stand by us? From years of experience in the industry, I’ve learned that if we try to speak up, we will end up being painted as vile and problematic women. We would be denied jobs,” she said.

Despite the threat of legal action, the hairstylists stand by their allegation. “We were not allowed to record the meeting, but videographers hired by FEFKA did. We are challenging the union to present an unedited version of the meeting before the public,” said Sivapriya Manisha, a senior makeup artist with years of experience in the industry.

Manisha said the meeting left her so distressed that she was unable to speak at the time. “We were torn apart there. They kept accusing us of trying to destroy FEFKA. But if that was the case, we wouldn’t have gone to the FEFKA meeting to raise the issue. We could have sat elsewhere and played that game. But that’s not what we wanted at all.”

Faiza said the meeting started with a disclaimer, telling the women this was currently not a platform to air their complaints. “They said another meeting would be held on September 3 to discuss our complaints, but that did not happen,” she added.

When the union’s executive members reiterated that the members were only supposed to unilaterally listen to what they had to say during the meeting, Faiza felt the need to intervene. 

“I told them that was not possible, and pointed out that I had sent three official complaints to FEFKA over the years. I had raised several issues in those letters, including specific instances of sexual harassment, labour exploitation, workplace torture, accommodation issues, and lack of toilets on sets. But the executive members claimed that FEFKA hasn’t received such a letter and accused me of lying and trying to ‘destroy’ the union,” Faiza said.

They then allegedly asked Faiza to provide proof for the complaints she had submitted. “These were letters I had sent via post years ago. How can I find evidence for it? They know it would be a huge task. But I will still try my best to find it,” she said.

On September 3, flanked by a selected group of women makeup artists and hairstylists, Bhagyalakshmi held a more controversial press meet. Publicly naming a hairstylist who had raised sexual harassment allegations against certain makeup artists, Bhagyalakshmi alleged that this hairstylist and a few other women were deliberately tarnishing FEFKA’s image — an argument in line with what AMMA and other organisations had claimed after allegations were raised against them.

At the press meet, Bhagyalakshmi heavily criticised the Hema Commission report, alleging that it had only focused on the sexual abuse complaints. “Sexual abuse is not the only issue faced by women in the film industry. There are many more concerns such as bathroom facilities and good food. The Hema Committee overlooked all of it, and only sought statements from actors and other prominent people in the industry. Only four women were called to depose from our union,” she alleged. 

It has to be noted that the Hema Committee report had dedicated several pages to discuss, and provide recommendations, to address issues such as lack of toilets and provision of proper food on film sets.

Further questioning the women who publicly raised allegations of sexual abuse, Bhagyalakshmi also claimed that most of these women were using the platform for personal vendetta.

In response, the women issued a joint statement to the media, alleging that Bhagyalakshmi and the women who attended the press meet with her had deliberately not addressed the real issues they had raised at the FEFKA meeting. “We had spoken about the lack of basic facilities, the sidelining of those who speak up, denial of jobs, and the need to ensure a safe working environment for women,” the statement said.

“We want our organisation to remain strong. It is because of our trust in the organisation that we are pointing out the problems faced by its members and requesting that they be resolved. But instead, they are making baseless allegations that we are trying to destroy FEFKA with ulterior motives. This is an attempt to create divisions within the makeup union,” the women alleged in the statement.

They also stated that most of the problems in FEFKA are caused by a few individuals with selfish interests. “Over the years, we have experienced various types of exploitation. If we complain to the secretary of the AKCMH union, he would threaten to ‘kick us out of Malayalam cinema’. All we want is to address the union’s shortcomings and move forward together,” they added.

Riya*, a temporary cardholder with the AKCMH union, pointed out that as a dubbing artist, Bhagyalakshmi was unlikely to know or understand the depth of the issues faced by women in hair and makeup. “She mostly works in a studio, while we climb forests and mountains to do our work. She might not have witnessed the kinds of torture we have had to endure in this industry,” she said.

Complaints ‘ignored’ and ‘settled’

Lavanya told TNM that a few years ago, after she faced sexual harassment on two film sets, she had filed two official complaints with the AKCMH union. The first complaint was against the makeup assistant who molested her in 2021, to which she had retaliated, only for her to be asked to leave the set later. The second was against another makeup assistant, who called her to a film set for work and allegedly touched her inappropriately and took videos of her.

The union, however, did not respond to her complaint — at least not until she contacted actor Sajitha Madathil of the Women in Cinema Collective and director Siddharth Shiva, who intervened in the matter. “Only after that did I finally get a call from the union,” she said. (Sajitha Madathil has confirmed Lavanya’s version of events to TNM.)

At the union office, what Lavanya faced was an interrogation seeking proof and attempted character assassination. 

“The makeup assistant who misbehaved with me told the union that none of my allegations were true. Then he claimed that he didn’t remember such an incident. Later, a senior woman executive member of the union told my husband that I was mentally ill and needed to be admitted to an asylum,” she said. 

Lavanya was eventually forced to withdraw her complaint, after a formal apology from the alleged perpetrator. “I am neck deep in debt, and all I wanted was to work in peace so I can earn a livelihood and help my family. But I was instead labelled ‘insane’ and forced to settle the case,” she said.

TNM spoke to other women who accused the union of similarly stonewalling their concerns.

Krishna*, another hairstylist, recalled how she had approached the union in 2019 with a sexual harassment complaint against a senior makeup artist, who grabbed her ankle while they were returning from a film set. She had slapped him that day. “Even the night before that incident, he made unwanted advances towards me in the vehicle. I was so distressed that I had to ask the driver to stop the car at two in the morning. Another male makeup assistant, who was riding alongside us, then gave me his two-wheeler and got into the car instead of me,” she recalled.

At FEFKA though, she was persuaded against filing an official complaint. Those heading the AKCMH union allegedly came to the accused makeup artist’s support, telling Krishna that she would be destroying his family and career if she went ahead and filed a case. She eventually relented under pressure.

Another senior makeup artist, a former office bearer of the AKCMH Union, corroborated Krishna’s version of the events.

Multiple union members also recalled how an office bearer was suspended in 2023 over a sexual harassment allegation, only to be reinstated to the position of authority within months, allegedly after getting the complainant to settle. “This was despite him having admitted guilt,” claimed a member of the AKCMH union.

It’s a man’s world

One of the prominent concerns raised by the Hema Committee report was how the union refused many women the designation of ‘makeup artist’, solely because they are women. Even if a woman has studied makeup and is experienced in the field, the membership card that the union allots them would be that of a ‘hairstylist.’ Even if these hairstylists do makeup for artistes on film sets, their designation remains the same.

This is discriminatory and illegal, the report pointed out, citing the example of a woman whose application for membership as a ‘makeup artist’ was simply not considered, despite her having worked in that capacity “for many famous actors.” 

In fact, it was only two years ago that a woman, Mitta Antony, became the first officially recognised female makeup artist in Malayalam cinema. Currently, only two women have the makeup artist card in the industry — Mitta and Sivapriya Manisha.

Many women TNM spoke to confirmed that, except in rare cases, the chief makeup artist on a film set is consistently a man. 

A makeup artist is graded among the chief technicians in cinema, and usually has access to additional facilities while working on the film, including better accommodation. The remuneration of a makeup person is also much higher than that of a hairstylist. 

The argument put forth by FEFKA, as per the report, “is that the union’s bylaw does not permit women to work as makeup artists.” 

The report also said that even when a few women received the makeup artist cards recently, it has mostly just been “eye wash.” Even if these women had the card, they were hardly extended any of the benefits that come with being a makeup artist, it said.

One of the women, Nandana*, had to face a startling experience when she asked for union membership as a makeup artist, instead of a hairstylist. “During the interview, I was told that I can get a makeup card, but that I would have to sleep in the same room as other male makeup assistants. It was a woman executive member of the union who said this to me. She insulted me, saying I won’t be allowed in the room where female hairdressers stay. This happened a year ago,” she said.

Nandana soon left cinema behind, and began working in the advertising industry instead. “I didn’t want to return to the union anymore. I was lucky enough to find work elsewhere, and I have my family’s support, so I was able to move forward. But this is not the case for everyone in the industry.”

In the wake of the recent developments, Nandana had shared her experience with FEFKA and submitted an official complaint, after which the union assured her that she would get her membership card without any roadblocks.

But beyond the insult she had to face, this ‘sleeping arrangement’ is also reflective of the arbitrary gender segregation in the field of hair and makeup, Nandana added. “A film production unit usually assigns three rooms to the hair and makeup department — one for the chief makeup artist, another for the makeup assistants, and the third for the hairstylists. It is just assumed that those doing makeup will be men and the hairstylists will be women.”

Krishna told TNM that she had once asked a union leader why women aren’t allowed the chance to be chief makeup artists. “They claimed it was to assure the safety of the women, because these artists would often have to travel to unknown and unsafe locations during a film shoot,” she said.

On the contrary, the male monopoly in the field has only made it increasingly unsafe for the women, as their jobs are often at the mercy of men who wield power and use it to their advantage. “You know how people go to the market and observe the shape and size of cows before deciding on which one to buy? That’s how some senior makeup artists in the industry choose women hairstylists and assistants to their team,” Lavanya alleged.

It is also the policy of the union not to allow any non-member to work in a film, which means if the women want to find employment, they have little option but to relent to the status quo. 

The Hema Committee report had made it a point to state that “there are some good makeup men” in the industry too, which was reiterated by several women who spoke to TNM. But the sheer extent of harrowing experiences many of them have faced, forcing several of them to leave their jobs, is indicative of a deep systemic rot in the industry.

Sivapriya Manisha said she had first spoken out against this “male-ism” in the industry way back in 2012. “From that day, they have been targeting me. I have continuously been denied work, and not for lack of skill. I have worked in several other film industries including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi, where directors have personally sought me out for the quality of my work. They treat us with respect there; some of the crew members even call us ‘madam’. I am not saying we have to be called ‘madam’ everywhere, but the least people could do is behave with decency,” Manisha said. This is why she no longer likes working in Malayalam cinema, she added.

Abysmal working conditions

Chithra*, a hair stylist who worked in the industry for decades before retiring a few years ago, said there was a time when women hair stylists were denied payment just because the chief makeup man was feeling vengeful. 

“Though hairstyling should ideally be considered a department of its own, in cinema, it has always been considered a subsidiary to makeup. Back in the day, we even got our payment only after both the production controller and the makeup man signed off on it. So if the makeup man didn’t like us, often because we rejected his advances or did not try to get in his good graces, sometimes they simply held back our payment. There have been multiple films, which were shot years ago, for which I still haven’t been paid,” Chithra said.

At least on the financial front, things have changed for the better, said Faiza. “For that, I have to thank FEFKA’s general secretary B Unnikrishnan. His interventions helped straighten up the payment process. But there are a multitude of issues that still remain unaddressed, including the dreadful work hours,” she said.

Manisha said there have been times when they have had to work all day, from six in the morning to ten in the night. “There are absolutely no regulations, and what we earn for putting in these hours is just about Rs 1,800 per day,” she said. 

She added that a lot of their earnings go towards medical expenses for health conditions they develop due to constantly standing for such long hours. “I have several neurological problems, varicose veins, and other issues.”

Manisha contrasted this with some other industries, where she has been the chief makeup artist and has earned up to Rs 8,000 per day.

Lavanya said that oftentimes, especially in outdoor locations where there are usually fewer women, the production team doesn’t even feel the need to set up washroom facilities for the staff. 

Though caravans of prominent artists usually have toilet facilities, hairstylists and makeup artists are not allowed to access them. “Women junior artists too face a similar plight,” she said. “People who are close to the artists sometimes get a leeway, but that’s not the case for most of us. Even if we get permission from the artists to use the caravan washroom, sometimes our senior makeup men make a huge issue out of it, accusing us of crossing lines.”

Many women deal with the situation by avoiding drinking water and not relieving themselves for too long, consequently triggering several health issues. “I have had recurring urinary tract infections, I have kidney stones — all effects of such working conditions,” Lavanya said.

Imagine the situation when women get periods, Manisha pointed out. “We try to find houses near the film location, often in rural areas, hoping that someone would let us use their washroom. Most houses don’t even have washrooms outside these days, and it’s not surprising when they don’t want to let strangers into their houses,” she said.

Lavanya added that there is discrimination even in the kind of food that is distributed among makeup artists. “We have had to eat out of broken tiffin carriers. There have been instances where I have simply thrown away the food because of how stale it was. They claim that all this is because the production team doesn’t have money, but at the same time, the film’s chief technicians would be staying in luxury,” she said.

To call the accommodations provided to hairstylists and the safety afforded to them poor, would be an understatement.

On a film set in Kollam district’s Punalur, Faiza once spotted an unidentified man under her bed in the hotel room at around two in the morning. “I had woken up to go to the washroom, and it was by accident that I spotted the figure near the bed. He slowly stood up, and I was petrified. I ran out of the room screaming and ended up banging the room next door. I was so scared that I used all my force and pushed open the locked door.” 

Several people had heard Faiza’s screams and come out of their rooms. The man had escaped by then.

“When I told the film’s chief makeup man that there was an intruder in my room, his first response was that I must have imagined it. He then told me that I should take care of my own safety and asked me why I left the door open. He had no word of consolation to offer,” she said.

The very next day, Faiza had lodged a complaint at the Punalur police station, but the case hasn’t gone anywhere since then, she said. She had submitted the copy of the complaint to the Hema Committee as well.

“The incident really affected me. It took me a lot of time to recover from it,” Faiza added.

Lavanya, meanwhile, recalled how she and a colleague were once assigned a room in a lodge, only to find that anyone could easily see into their washroom from the room next door. Just a curtain separated the window between the two washrooms. “We were not shifted to a safer room despite requests, so eventually we found our own way to safeguard our privacy. This is the extent of care given to people like us on film sets,” she said.

Groupism and monopolies

Multiple people who spoke to TNM had also accused the FEFKA of blatant favouritism. Many alleged that despite the union’s bylaws saying a makeup artist cannot be assigned more than three films in a row, currently, a single makeup artist takes on nearly half of the industry’s work. 

“This artist has a team of his own that he prefers to work with, which essentially means that many of us are not getting jobs anymore. This artist also employs people who are not union members in his team, though the bylaws explicitly state that only card-holding members can work in hair and makeup. This monopoly is conveniently overlooked, or sometimes even supported, by FEFKA’s senior office bearers,” senior makeup artist, Jithu Payyannur, alleged.

Jithu, a former office bearer, said he had fallen out of favour with the union leaders after he questioned some alleged financial irregularities and misdemeanours in the union’s dealings. “I have also been denied a lot of opportunities since then,” he alleged.

Riya alleged that in effect, there is a power group within the field of hair and makeup as well. “I had approached the union questioning why we were not being assigned work when we had paid them a fee for the temporary membership card. Their response was that even permanent cardholders weren’t getting work,” she said.

When asked why some permanent cardholders were also not getting jobs, some union leaders claim it’s because their work was not good enough, Lavanya added.

“But if that was the case, why did the union take money from these people and give them membership in the first place? Every person gets the membership card only after multiple rounds of interviews, after they are convinced that we know the job. We have also paid up to Rs 2 lakh for permanent membership. We are not any lesser,” she said.

Call for systemic change

“Hair and makeup in cinema is a field that really needs a lot of systemic changes, even beyond the issue of sexual exploitation,” Sajitha said. These women are treated like sub-humans on some of these film sets, she said, adding that it would be preferable if FEFKA would shift focus to addressing their concerns.

This is a world that thrives on blaming the women who speak up, Nandana said. “When a woman faces a bad experience, she may choose to keep it to herself for various reasons. She may be scared of how her family and the people around her would react, of whether she would be vilified publicly, of losing job opportunities and financial security, among other things.” 

But when a lot of women publicly share their experiences, others too start finding the courage, she said. “Even then people around us find a way to shift the blame to the victim.”

There is a whole system that needs to change, Lavanya told TNM, “starting from the formation of a union for hairstylists and the implementation of rotational work assignments.” One of their primary demands, she added, was also for more women to become office bearers of the union. Currently, there is nobody to talk on behalf of the women, she said, adding that they would continue raising their voice until a change happens.

Though FEFKA had promised to consider these demands, little has been done so far, Riya said. “They can try to steamroll us, but we won’t stay silent anymore. There are many such women in this field who have been silenced due to the fear of losing job opportunities and their reputation. But until my colleagues and I get justice, until such exploitation of women ends, we will keep shouting out our truth to the public. We have to remember that there is another generation that will follow us, we will do this at least for their sake. This might be our only chance.”

*Names have been changed to protect identity.

The formation of the Hema Commission was triggered by the shocking abduction and sexual assault of a top female actor in Kerala in February 2017. The crime was executed by a gang of men who were allegedly hired by superstar Dileep. Read this report to understand how a sexual assault case unmasked the Malayalam film industry.

This report was republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Read about our partnership here and become a subscriber here.