While Bollywood came out in support of actor Tanushree Dutta when she filed charges against her Horn Ok Pleassss co-star Nana Patekar for allegedly sexually harassing her on the set of the film in 2008, the South Indian film industry has not been as forthcoming about allegations against its members.
While news of Dutta’s allegations surfaced in September, actor Sri Reddy had already accused several big names in Tollywood of sexual harassment. In April, she staged a semi-nude protest in front of the media outside the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, claiming that she had been denied membership in the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) because she had spoken out on ‘casting couch’ scandals, her euphemism for sexual harassment within the Telugu film industry.
In an interview with Nakkheeran, actor Sri Reddy said,
When I started talking about these allegations, no one came forward except for the media. The media encouraged me, talked about my side, and took my side. A lot of people are talking [about #MeToo], but compared to North India, there are very few people in South India [talking about it].
Speaking about the industry’s silence on #MeToo, she said, “I’m feeling shame on my society. You are shaming me. Fortunately few changes are happening. Look at how much support Tanushree Dutta got in Bollywood. Why is South India like this?” She goes on to claim that following her allegations, she received threats that she would no longer get work should she continue speaking out.
Sri Reddy also calls out actor and director Varahi, who had apparently labelled her a prostitute.
A few other South Indian actors who have alleged sexual misconduct since Reddy began speaking up, include Sriranjini, who accused actor John Vijay and Ghatam Umashankar. In her interview, Sri Reddy defends singer Chinmayi Sripaada, who had alleged sexual harassment by lyricist Vairamuthu. Much of the industry has refused to comment on her claims, especially established members such as director Bhartiraja and actor Khushboo, even though more women have since levelled similar accusations against the lyricist. Some have even taken to questioning why she didn’t report sooner. “Whether that happened 5 years ago or 10 years ago, it doesn’t matter. Pain is pain. Who are you to judge my pain?” says Sri Reddy.
Sri Reddy has through social media accused several big names in Tollywood and Kollywood of soliciting sexual favours in exchange for opportunities in the industry.
Most recently she posted a statement on Facebook that many are taking to be a thinly veiled allegation against actor Vishal, the general secretary of Nadigar Sangam and president of the Tamil Film Producer Council.
Another prominent of these is AR Murugadoss. In a Facebook post, she insinuated that the Ghajni director has promised her a role in exchange for sex saying, “Hi Tamil director murugadas ji..h r U??U remember green park hotel??we met through veligonda Srinivas..U promised me a role.But we had lot of …, till now u didn’t offer me anything..U r also a great person sir.. (sic).”
She levelled similar allegations at Srikanth, whom she claims to have met at a celebrity cricket league party at a hotel in Hyderabad. “5 years bk I guess hope u remember the celebrity cricket league party in Hyderabad at the park hotel..i love the way u eat my p..sy.. u promised a role when we dance together in club..u remember ??#tamilleaks (sic),” she wrote.
A lengthy post was also devoted to actor and choreographer Raghava Lawrence detailling how she was made to perform suggestive acts for him in his hotel room, again in exchange for a role.
Lawrence denied her allegations in a statement and offered Reddy a chance to audition for a role in his upcoming film. Reddy took him up on the offer, documenting her experience on Facebook saying, “I met Lawrence garu @his home,he recieved me in a very nice way..I gave an audition, he took me into his next film,he promised me and confirmed a good role,got an advance too..(sic)”
Several others stand accused by Reddy asking her to trade sexual favours, including Aranmanai director Sundar C, writer Kona Venkat and actor Abhiram Daggubati, brother of Rana Daggubati and son of producer Suresh Babu.
The Telugu film chamber, in response to accusations of the lack of proper facilities for women in the film industry to report cases of sexual harassment, has made it mandatory for production houses in Tollywood to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). However, in an interview with The News Minute, producer Tamareddy Bharadwaj mentioned that this would apply to only the large production houses. Other complaints would be forwarded to the sexual harassment panel at the Telugu Film Chamber, a spokesperson of Anapurna studios confirmed to the website.
The South Indian Film Women’s Association (SIFWA) held a press meet on 20 October in Chennai to showcase support for survivors of sexual harassment.
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