Amala Paul, heartthrob of south Indian film industry, too joined the MeToo campaign on Wednesday by accusing movie maker Susi Ganesan of sexual misconduct. Ganesan was al;ready in the eye of a storm following the disclosures by Leena Manimekalai, a film maker, that the former had ‘misbehaved’ with her in 2005.
Paul, the prima donna of Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films on a social media post on Wednesday accused Ganesan of making unchivalrous bodily contacts during the shooting of a film directed by him in which she was the lead lady. “Me too being the lead actress for Thiruttupayale2 was subjected to double meaning talks, misrepresented offers and unchivalrous body contacts. This pretty much made my experience of shooting TP2 a mentally fatiguing one,” wrote Paul in her Twitter posting as she extended support to colleague Manimekalai.
Paul known for her pro-active approach to all issues concerning women, pointed out the double standard prevailing among men. “In our emerging economy and ever expanding female work force, this behaviour is rampantly occurring everywhere, in all trades and industries. These men treat their house wives and daughters different, but when it comes to their colleagues they don’t miss a chance to show an upper hand and take advantage,” said Paul.
Ganesan had denied all charges made by Manikmekalai and is reported to have initiated legal proceedings against her. The Kollywood (as Tamil film industry os known in synch with Kodambakkam, a Chennai suburb where most of the film studios were centred) has been in the MeToo news since last month with singer Chinmayee coming out in the open with startling disclosures that Vairamuthu, Tamil film industry’s leading lyricist who had been honoured with Padma Bhushan, had sexually harassed her. The poet denied the allegations while his colleagues in the DMK, blamed the BJP for making baseless charges against him.
Besides Vairamuthu and Ganesan, actors Thyagarajan and Arjun Sarja too have been named by female colleagues under the MeToo campaign. A press meet addressed by Chinmayee and Manimekalai last week at Chennai ended in chaos as some of the senior journalists questioned the victims about the authenticity of their allegations and the timing of the disclosures.