A Mumbai-based casting director on Tuesday accused Malayalam actor Mukesh on Twitter of sexual harassment. She said the incident took place 19 years ago. Mukesh is now a Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA and represents Kollam constituency. I was 20 years old quiz directing #koteeswaran when the mallu host #mukeshkumar called my room multiple times and then changed my room to beside his on the next sch. My then boss @derekobrienmp spoke to me for an hour & got me out on the next flight. 19 yrs on thank you Derek. — Tess Joseph (@Tesselmania) October 9, 2018 The woman claimed that during her time as director of a Malayalam television show, Mukesh had called her hotel room a number of times. She was the only woman in the crew, which was stationed in Chennai’s Le Meridien Hotel. Mukesh, who was hosting the show, asked hotel authorities to change her room to one next to his, she claimed. The woman said she immediately contacted her then boss Derek O’Brien, who is now a Trinamool Congress leader. Thanking him for “timely intervention”, she said O’Brien arranged an air ticket after which she returned to Mumbai the same night. On Wednesday, Mukesh told reporters that he did not remember nor would he be able to recognise the complainant in a photograph. “I never misbehaved with anyone over phone,” Mukesh said. “I am not that type of a person [who misbehaves with women]. Someone may have misguided the complainant. Someone named Mukesh may have called her [while she was working on the shoot] but it was not me.” The Kerala MLA said he was from a “family of artistes” and that he supports the #MeToo campaign. “Women should respond immediately if they face sexual harassment,” Mukesh said. “Then only we will get more women artistes.” Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary, told Scroll.in that the party will legally examine the allegations against the actor. “All allegations must not be true,” the party official said. I want to say this to every hotel, every crew member who has allowed and been party to enabling predators - you are a huge part of this is #TimesUp — Tess Joseph (@Tesselmania) October 9, 2018 The allegations against the actor-turned-politician come at a time when several women, including journalists, have taken to social media to give detailed accounts of the sexual harassment and misconduct they faced. The campaign, being dubbed as the #MeToo movement in India, has taken the media fraternity by storm as several senior journalists, writers and media professionals have been accused of misconduct. On Monday, writer, director and producer Vinta Nanda alleged that actor Alok Nath raped her at her home nearly two decades ago after he was sacked from the 1990s popular television show Tara for misbehaving with its lead actress, Navneet Nishan. Later, Nishan confirmed sthe actor in question had harassed her. “I dealt with the four-year harassment by slapping the man in question and it is done and dusted,” said Nishan, without naming Nath. Four journalists also made allegations of sexual harassment against veteran journalist and now the Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar. Several Twitter users on Monday accused Tamil poet-lyricist Vairamuthu of inappropriate conduct and sexual abuse. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada later backed the allegations of sexual harassment against him. Director Vikas Bahl, former Hindustan Times political editor Prashant Jha, actor Rajat Kapoor, Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah, stand-up comedian Utsav Chakraborty and author Chetan Bhagat are among those who have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past few days. DISCLOSURE: In view of the statements of women who have made public their experiences of journalist Mayank Jain’s misconduct, we at Scroll in the spirit of fair disclosure would like to state that Mayank Jain worked for Scroll from October 15, 2014 to October 30, 2016, and then from June 12, 2017 to December 31, 2017. A woman employee informally and verbally brought to the attention of a member of the internal complaints committee (ICC) at Scroll an instance of sexually inappropriate online behaviour by Mayank Jain in 2017. The employee, however, did not want to pursue the matter through a formal written complaint, without which no formal inquiry can be initiated. Despite this, the ICC took serious note of the matter and served a written warning to Mayank Jain, reminding him of Scroll’s strict policies prohibiting sexual harassment. We, at Scroll, commit to continuing to better understand women’s experiences at the workplace and evolve further processes that may be required to prevent, acknowledge and respond to work cultures that are not enabling for women. NOTE: This article includes only those accounts in which the women have chosen to name themselves and their alleged harassers or in cases which there have been multiple accusations against one person. Scroll.in reporters are continuing to report the story, including efforts to corroborate and cover the cases where the women have chosen to be anonymous.<doc-sep>CPI-M legislator Mukesh, a popular Malayalam actor, was on Tuesday accused by a woman of harassment. He has denied the allegation. The woman revealed her experience on Twitter, claiming she was 20 years old and was quiz directing Koteeswaran when host Mukesh Kumar telephoned her room multiple times and then had her room changed besides his own. She said her then boss, Derek O'Brien, spoke to her for an hour and got her out on the next flight. "19 years on, thank you Derek," read the tweet. When a Twitter user asked her if the person was actor-politician Mukesh, she confirmed it was him. I was 20 years old quiz directing #koteeswaran when the mallu host #mukeshkumar called my room multiple times and then changed my room to beside his on the next sch. My then boss @derekobrienmp spoke to me for an hour & got me out on the next flight. 19 yrs on thank you Derek.— Tess Joseph (@Tesselmania) October 9, 2018 Mukesh, who won the 2016 Assembly elections for the first time on CPI-M ticket, has said he does not remember such a woman and denied the allegation. "Maybe this could be a conspiracy against me to see I resign as MLA," said Mukesh. Kollam district Congress President M. Bindukrishna has demanded Mukesh's resignation from the Assembly. CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the matter must be examined according to the law while P.K. Sreemathy, the Kannur CPI-M Lok Sabha member, said she will react once she finds out more details.<doc-sep>I left the place worried, didn't work on 'Koteeswaran' again: Tess Joseph on Mukesh Tess Joseph said that there was more scope to take action against sexual harassment now. news Me Too On Tuesday morning, Tess Joseph, a casting director, joined the #MeToo campaign and shared her experience from two decades ago. It was for the first time that an actor from the Malayalam film industry had been named ever since the wave of #MeToo hit social media in India. Mukesh Kumar is an actor, a CPI (M) MLA from Kollam district and the Vice President of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA). “I was 20 years old quiz directing #koteeswaran when the mallu host #mukeshkumar called my room multiple times and then changed my room to beside his on the next sch. My then boss @derekobrienmp spoke to me for an hour & got me out on the next flight. 19 yrs on thank you Derek,” she wrote. Tess wrote about how she stayed in her colleague’s room when the calls were never-ending. Speaking to TNM, Tess says that the reason she spoke about the issue was to point out how the system has been broken for a long time, and that this was the time to fix it. Detailing what happened 19 years ago, Tess said that she had started working with Derek O'Brien Associates, and was part of the control room of the popular game show ‘Koteeswaran’ (Millionaire) in Malayalam. “Since I was in the control room, I was the person who interacted with him over the prompter and the head-set when needed. During one recording he had introduced the show in an impressive manner. When the show got over, I spoke to him and congratulated him. He asked me how I understood what he said and I told him that I was a Malayali and could understand Malayalam,” Tess recalled. Mukesh then told her that it was a pity that she could not speak Malayalam well, and after a friendly chat of the crew meeting for dinner, they parted. “He messaged me later saying he has dinner in his room and invited me. But I told him that I eat dinner with my crew in the restaurant,” she said. The crew was staying at Hotel Le Meridian in Chennai. “My room phone kept ringing post that and I refused to pick up. I stayed in my colleague’s room for many hours after that as I felt jittery,” she added. Tess then went back home after the schedule, and when she came back for the next schedule, she realised that her room had been changed. On her return, she discovered that her room had been changed to a different floor. “When I asked the reception why, they nonchalantly said that I could be closer to Mukesh,” she said. Shocked that the actor had asked the hotel to change her room, Tess called Derek. “Those days, not everyone had cell phones. I somehow got in touch with Derek from my cell phone. I was upset; he spoke to me for a while, calmed me down and then got me on a flight. Maybe we could have gone back to the issue and inspected it. But at that time, Derek did what he could. But now there is scope to do more, to have standard practices and have better systems,,” she said. Tess stresses on the need for Internal Complaints Committees in the every profession, and especially hers. “This happened a long time ago, people who were close to me knew about it. When #MeToo started, I had spoken about how the film industry needs sensitisation. An Internal Complaints Committee doesn’t come to play in our industry. The system is broken now and we have a chance to fix it,” she said. Ever since her revelation, Mukesh’s political rivals in Kerala have lined up against him and Tess is disappointed with the way things are panning out. "I am bothered by the politicisation of the issue, this is my story, not their politics. How can any political party talk as if they are holier than thou?” she asks. Tess adds that she left the 'Koteeswaran' set worried and never returned to the show. “I, too, lost something by that incident. My opportunity to quiz-direct a show at a time where there were so few women in my industry.” she concludes.<doc-sep>Me Too: Parties protest against actor-MLA Mukesh in Kerala, demand his arrest Opposition parties in Kerala staged protests near and outside CPI(M) MLA Mukesh’s office at Anandavalleswaram in Kollam on Tuesday. news Me Too Ever since casting director Tess Joseph came out with her #MeToo allegation of inappropriate workplace behaviour against Kerala actor and CPI(M) MLA Mukesh, multiple groups in Kerala have taken out protests demanding his resignation and arrest. Opposition parties in Kerala staged protests near and outside Mukesh’s office at Anandavalleswaram in Kollam. On Tuesday, Youth Congress members blocked the National Highway near Anandavalleswaram and burnt an effigy of Mukesh. Police arrested 10 protesting members of the Youth Congress for obstructing public pathways. Bearing signs that read “Peedana ‘Veeran’ Mukesh MLA Arrest Cheyuka” (Arrest the Harassment ‘Braveheart’ MLA Mukesh), members of the BJP Mahila Morcha marched to Mukesh’s office, while BJP Yuva Morcha members also clashed with police during their protest against the actor. However, Kollam police told TNM that no Yuva Morcha members were arrested. Under the aegis of the District Congress Committee, Kollam, the Congress party also took out a march to Mukesh’s house in Kollam on Wednesday morning, demanding his resignation from the party post and police action against him. Anticipating these protests, security has been increased around his home and office. Police say no arrests have been made in these protests on Wednesday. Mukesh addressed reporters at around 12 PM on Wednesday to address the allegations against him. He began his statement by saying that he is a strong supporter of the #MeToo movement. He said that he supported an environment where women could enter the arts without any gender discrimination. He went on to say that he had no recollection of the events encapsulated in Tess Joseph’s #MeToo account and that he would never have bothered any person on the phone. He said that he did remember staying at the Le Meridien hotel while shooting for Koteeswaran show 19 years ago, but was not aware that crew members were also staying there and that he never called or bothered anyone as described in Tess’ account. He said that it was likely there was some confusion, that it perhaps could have been another Mukesh Kumar. He also attempted to discredit Tess’ account, saying that a few years later, Derek O’Brien had invited him to meet during a shoot in Kerala. Mukesh said that he was the only person Derek knew in Kerala and was a friend and that Mukesh hastened to meet him. “If Derek knew I was a harasser, he would not have invited me; so there must have been some confusion,” he said. Mukesh then pointed out that Tess herself had mentioned that she did not come out with her account in order to politicise the issue or inspire groups to march to Mukesh’s house or office.<doc-sep>
Read Also Though sexual allegations have been levelled against top actors, directors and producers in the Malayalam film industry over the years, they have all been passed around in hushed whispers, in closed groups. For the first time probably, a woman has now come out against a Malayalam actor in public. Twitter user Tess Joseph, a casting director based in Mumbai, has posted publicly that actor Mukesh once behaved inappropriately with her, 19 years ago.It took 19 years but here is my story, tweeted Tess, with the hashtags #MeTooIndia #TimesUp #Metoo.The incident occurred when she was 20 years old, during the shoot of the TV show Kodeeswaran of which Mukesh was the host. Mukesh called her hotel room multiple times, and then changed her room to the one beside his on the next schedule, she wrote. “My then boss Derek O’Brien spoke to me for an hour and got me out on the next flight. Nineteen years on, thank you Derek,” read her tweet.Confirming that it is actor-politician Mukesh, she goes on to elaborate: “I was the only woman in a crew of men. One night when the calls were never ending I stayed in my colleague’s room. And Le Meridien Chennai, you are the worst for being enablers when I asked you why my room floor was different. So nonchalantly I was told Mukesh asked for it.”Tess also says that the film fraternity should be “open to conducting a sensitisation session for all cast and crew, on every set, in every office henceforth”. “Can this become mandatory like a censor certificate is and can there be a sexual harassment cell opened?”Attempts to reach out to Mukesh were unsuccessful at the time of going to press.Meanwhile, on a separate thread, a girl has accused a South Indian music director, the screenshots of which have been shared by the Twitter handle India Protests with the hashtag #MeToo. The post has been made anonymously though.In the screenshots, the girl says that when she was a teenager, a “senior musician who was then 32 or 34 years old”, said he wanted to have a relationship with her. She was still in school and he kept on trying for years, she writes. Once he asked her if she was a virgin and also made other indecent proposals, despite her saying she was not interested multiple times.The #MeToo movement started off in Hollywood and slowly ripples have reached Bollywood, with actress Tanushree Dutta revealing that Nana Patekar had behaved inappropriately with her during the shoot of the film Horn Ok Pleassss. The allegations have snowballed into a movement in Bollywood now.In Malayalam, no major actor has been accused yet as part of the #MeToo movement, though actress Parvathy last year revealed publicly that casting couch exists in the Malayalam film industry.