Singer Chinmayi Sripaada has now reacted to actor Rajinikanth congratulating poet-lyricist Vairamuthu for receiving the prestigious Jnanpith Award after she criticised Kamal Haasan for a similar message of appreciation.
Rajinikanth took to X to congratulate Vairamuthu, writing, “My heartfelt congratulations to my dear friend, the esteemed poet Vairamuthu, recipient of the great Jnanpith Award of our Indian nation.” Responding to the post, Chinmayi wrote, “Ayyyyyyoooo!!! Puriyave puriyaadha??!”
Her reaction comes shortly after she publicly called out Kamal Haasan for praising the lyricist following the award announcement. In his earlier message, Kamal had described Vairamuthu as his “friend” and said the honour was “a great honour for Tamil Nadu". He also recalled a line Vairamuthu once shared with him — “The sky is a Bodhi tree for me; every day it brings me a message” — saying it had deeply moved him and led to their friendship.
Responding to Kamal’s post, Chinmayi wrote, “For God’s sake... Men in such power in cinema transitioning to politics completely turning a deaf ear to women who come on record to say they were molested by ‘his uncle-mentor’ must remind women who vote that men will never be on our side.”
She further added, “The weirdest thing is one of the women in his own party publicly named the Poet. End of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, friends, and mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?”
Chinmayi was among the first prominent voices to accuse Vairamuthu during the 2018 #MeToo movement, with several women later making similar allegations against the lyricist.
In subsequent posts reacting to the award announcement, the singer also questioned the decision to honour him in light of those allegations. “In 2018, multiple women of different age groups named one poet-lyricist as their molester. Today the Gnanpith is awarded to the man, after someone like Sri Jayakanthan, whose daughter called Vairamuthu out for presenting a forged, fake letter by Sri Jayakanthan ‘praising’ Vairamuthu," she wrote.
Referring to another literary recognition that drew criticism earlier, she added, “A committee from Kerala announced him for the ONV Kurup award, which was later ‘returned’ as voices of justice from their society rose to speak against sullying Sri ONV Kurup’s name,” mentioning the controversy surrounding the ONV Literary Award in 2021.
Chinmayi has also previously said she faced professional repercussions after speaking out against the lyricist. “I paid a very heavy price — the rest of the women who left their dreams behind weren’t half as lucky as I did. The collective voices of the women who named him were silenced,” she wrote.