#MeToo reaches Kollywood; Chinmayi accuses Vairamuthu of sexual harassment; The lyricist denies
(This is a developing story)
Lyricist Vairamuthu denies the accusation levelled against him by Chinmayi and others. He took to twitter to say, "It has become the trend to level accusations against famous people in the country now. This is an uncivilised act. I have been continuously shamed in recent days and the latest (#MeToo accusations) are one among those. I don't take heed of all such untrue statements. Truth will have its day."
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The #MeToo movement in India is seeing a lot of skeletons tumbling out of the closets of various fields in the country. While this avalanche started off in the stand-up comedy circle, it has since brought out names of harassers from the fields of journalism, advertising, and cinema.
In the field of cinema, it has mainly remained to Hindi cinema so far. There have been accusations against director Vikas Bahl, and Tanushree Dutta's allegations against Nana Patekar, and now, in a shocking turn, the movement has hit at the heart of Tamil cinema, with Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu alleged to be a harasser. Journalist Sandhya Menon, who has been collating various responses to her thread on the #MeToo movement, put out a tweet with messages sent to her by a person on condition of anonymity.
The anonymous person claims that she faced a tough ordeal at the residence of the seven-time National Award winner.
This tweet, since retweeted a few hundred times, was also picked up by singer and voice artist Chinmayi, who herself was speaking about multiple instances of abuse she has faced over the years. She tweeted out her support and said,
When we reached out to her about the allegations against Vairamuthu, she said, "He is a serial predator. This has happened to multiple people."
She has shared her first hand experiences in a series of tweets.
After the first such message and Chinmayi's support, more similar messages were shared.
Here is one more share
Another share
Attempts to reach the lyricist were unsuccessful.
The #MeToo movement in India is kicking up a storm and these allegations are beginning to have far-reaching consequences with top journalists being asked to step down from their positions.