Singer, voice actor, and leading #MeToo sexual harassment campaigner, Chinmayi Sripaada has, apparently, been terminated from the Tamil Nadu dubbing union citing non-payment of the ‘subscription fees’ for the past two years.
In October this year, she had made allegations of sexual misconduct against veteran lyricist Vairamuthu. She had also supported two women who alleged sexual misconduct by Radha Ravi who heads the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union (SICTADAU). Incidentally, Chinmayi had tweeted about Radha Ravi on October 9, stating, “I can see my Dubbing career go up in smoke now. He heads the dubbing union.”
The singer, who is on a concert tour in the US, took to Twitter to inform that her membership has been terminated without any discussion or written communication, and only a message was sent to her.
This effectively means that she can no longer dub in Tamil films, as dubbing union membership is compulsory to work in the industry.
In a series of tweets, she mentioned that the recent film, 96 (in which she voiced for Trisha Krishnan) will be her last film as a voice actor, if the termination were to continue. She went on to add that it's indeed a good film to end her Tamil dubbing career.
In a NewsMinute report, Radha Ravi has denied that she had been a member of the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union for two years. He said that the judge who oversaw the elections at the dubbing union had stated that she could not be a member as she had not been paying her membership fee.
He is also quoted as saying that, "For the past two years, she has been exempted and allowed to dub only because she's a well-known artiste."
Chinmayi, who has been working as a voice-artist from 2006, has been at the forefront of highlighting claims of sexual harassment in the Indian music industry, in what is widely considered as India's Me Too movement.
She had accused sexual harassment at the hands of Vairamuthu in a series of tweets about a month ago. In addition, she had also highlighted claims made by other individuals against OS Thyagarajan, Raghu Dixit, Mandolin U Rajesh, playback singer Karthik, and several other Carnatic musicians.
(With inputs from Express News Service)