Singer Chinmayi has been removed from the Dubbing Union headed by actor-politician Radha Ravi, who was accused of harassment during the MeToo movement. On Saturday, Chinmayi tweeted that she had been removed from the union and also said that she had received no notification to this effect. The union, meanwhile, has claimed that they took the action due to non-payment of subscription fees.
Chinmayi said Radha Ravi has always silenced anyone who has spoken up. “Radha Ravi has always removed people who spoke up. There are several cases and other news media has also reported it. I have been dubbing since 2006. I have never been informed about elections but he forced me to cancel a concert that I had taken an advance for if I didn’t show up at one of their protest marches. He said he’d give me a red card if I didn’t show up. So we’d have to go sign in a register. I have done all that,” Chinmayi said in an interview with Times of India.
While Chinmayi said non-payment of subscription fee was not a valid reason, joint secretary of South Indian Cine Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union, Rajendran called it an administrative decision that had nothing to do with MeToo. He said, “She hasn’t paid her subscription fee for the last two years. There are lifetime members, and others have a yearly subscription, and that’s a very meager amount. When dubbing artistes who do not even have a proper income pay the fee every year without defaulting, why can’t Chinmayi, who earns well, pay it? She hasn’t cared at all.”
Whoa! This is deeper and well established than ethics in our society https://t.co/czjpffd7d5
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) November 19, 2018
Artistes like @boomarao , Mr Dasarathi and others have constantly raised the voice over the years (This was something I was unaware of myself if not for the movement) whoever questioned got terminated. They didn’t get any support/help from anyone.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 19, 2018
One of the dubbing artistes that raised a complaint on a Dubbing Union FB group and was promptly terminated was @BoomaRao
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 19, 2018
She went to court, won the case and got herself reinstated. Even if her voice was Ok-d after auditions, her assignments continued to be cancelled.
Thank you, Vishal. https://t.co/2EbyJwb4Uu
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 19, 2018
Awful!! Here is one woman who knew of the things she would be ripped off after all the strong steps she is taking so not another woman should go through what she went through and still stood tall and we let this happen to her!! Its making me very angry!!! Really #NotDone !!! https://t.co/NZAX7QstqT
— Anasuya Bharadwaj (@anusuyakhasba) November 18, 2018
Because I am asked on why I didn’t pay Dubbing Union - I was expressly told that I needn’t pay anything for a while since the dubbing union had court cases. But 10% of my dubbing income would be taken in cash. No receipts. No signs. No vouchers.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 17, 2018
Chinmayi has also spoken of this subscription fee and tweeted, “Sooo given to understand that I have been terminated from the dubbing union. Which means I can longer dub in Tamil films henceforth. The reason stated is that I haven’t paid ‘subscription fees’ for 2 years though this hasn’t stopped them from taking 10% off my dubbing income.”
Chinmayi also tweeted that she had expected her support for MeToo to effect her dubbing career. “I expected the first axe to go down from the dubbing union. I dont know yet if I’ll be given my membership back. Just a decision that’s been taken without informing me that my membership is terminated. I am still on the much publicised concert tour in the US,” she tweeted.
Even when she had initially shared accounts of accusations against Radha Ravi, she had tweeted that she could expect her dubbing career to go up in smoke. Since her removal from the union has come to light, artistes from the industry including Taapsee Pannu, Rakul Preet, Vishal Dadlani, and others have shown support for Chinmayi.
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First Published: Nov 20, 2018 16:49 IST
