Director Pa Ranjith condemns Kollywood's victim-blaming attitude towards the Me Too movement in audio launch

Director Pa Ranjith, who was invited as the guest for the audio launch of a Tamil film titled Para, called out producer K Rajan’s misogyny and open threats to singer Chinmayi on stage right after the producer indulged in derogatory rabble-rousing.

Speaking at the recent event, producer K Rajan had threatened to "destroy" Chinmayi for accusing lyricist Vairamuthu of sexual harassment. “I have connections which can destroy you,” he had said. Claiming Chinmayi to be a publicity-seeker, the producer had also dismissed her allegations as those with "vested interests".

Director Ranjith, who has always been vocal about his support for the #MeToo movement, went on stage soon after and criticized Rajan's attitude in trying to slut-shame the woman, who has raised a complaint.

“Cinema, as an industry, has been sexually abusing women for ages. No one can deny this and it is time we accept this openly. When women like Sri Reddy or others come up with a complaint, instead of taking it just as an accusation, we have to investigate the issue further. Only then it will move to the next stage. A woman cannot be made a victim or the perpetrator just because she raises a complaint. It is very wrong and I condemn it,” he said.

Singer and voice-artist, Chinmayi, has been at the forefront of India's MeToo movement, highlighting claims of sexual harassment in the Indian music and film industry. She has been denied work in the Tamil film industry, ever since she accused lyricist Vairamuthu of sexual harassment. No action has been taken on this front until now.