Tamil Nadu Film Industry: Sexual Harassment Is Rampant, Says Popular Actor

Representational image.

New Delhi: After Kerala, there is news of sexual exploitation in the film industry of neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Popular actor and television serial producer Kutti Padmini has now alleged rampant sexual harassment in the Tamil television show industry, and said many women “have committed suicide” over it. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, she also expressed concern over the ban imposed by the Tamil film industry on singer Chimayi and actor Sri Reddy, who had raised sexual harassment allegations in the past.

She wondered why can’t theirs be a profession like any other – doctors, lawyers or IT. Why does it have to be a flesh trade? she said.

“Directors and technicians demand sexual obligations from women artistes in TV serials. Many women do not complain as sexual harassment can’t be proved. Some women tolerate this as they earn well,” Kutti Padmini told NDTV, adding that being a whistleblower inevitably brings adverse results. Complainants are banned by the industry, she added, citing the cases of singer Chinmayi and actor Sri Reddy.

Notably, actor Radha Ravi banned Chinmayi after she supported those who had named him. The action was on the ground that she had not renewed her membership. Sri Reddy was not given a membership card for the actors association, which meant she could not work for television serials.

To add insult to injury, no headway is made in investigations into sexual harassment allegations in Tamil cinema, “I read that Suresh Gopi has said ‘Where is the proof’. How can anyone give proof? They can do lie-detector test like the CBI is doing,” she said told NDTV.
State minister Swaminathan told reporters that the authorities have not received any complaints about sexual harassment from the industry.

Kutti Padmini said even she was sexually harassed as a child artist. “I was thrown out of a Hindi film when my mom raised the issue,” she old  NDTV xplaining the difficulties in building evidence against perpetrators.