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Suresh Gopi MP speaks out against casteism in Malayalam cinema

  • Suresh Gopi said that artists belonging to backward classes and Dalit community are treated differently
  • Earlier, there was a that national award was reserved for a few actors in Malayalam industry, he said
  • It was actors like him, Suraj Venjaramood, Salim Kumar and Surabhi Lakshmi who broke the concept
caste bias in Malayalam industry Suresh Gopi

After allegations of the casting couch, Malayalam movie industry is now blamed of caste bias. Actor turned politician Suresh Gopi has said that there is discrimination against artists on the basis of their caste in Malayalam films. 

The Rajya Sabha MP said that actors belonging to Dalit community or backward classes are treated differently. "Earlier, there was a belief that national award was reserved for a few actors in Malayalam industry. That concept was broken after I got the award. Later, actors like Suraj Venjaramood, Salim Kumar and Surabhi Lakshmi broke the concept, and the discrimination subsided to a larger extent," he said.

Artists face caste bias in every industry, including cinema, he said. 

His statement came at a time when several debates of casting couch in Malayalam cinema are going on. Actors like Parvathy and Lakshmi Rai had spoken loudly on the topic.

Women in Cinema Collective, an outfit of female actors and technicians associated with Malayalam film industry too had claimed that the practice exists. They also sought

government to appoint a commission to probe the aspect. 
Following this, actor Innocent and actor-director Sreenivasan said that they have never heard of such a practice. Innocent went a step ahead to state that "if the women are bad, may be they will go to bed." His remarks created an uproar inviting criticism from WCC, and the Collective asked Justice Hema Commission to study the issues faced by women in the film industry. 

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