The headlines screamed – Vijayalakshmi hospitalised after suicide attempt. Vijayalakshmi is an actress in Tamil cinema and the reason she attempted suicide is because followers of Naam Thamizhar party and its leader Seeman have been harassing her. The rumours and portions of truth are flying around thick and fast. Dravidian politics and Tamil cinema is filled with stories of harassment …. with many of these “men” becoming “leaders”.
Seeman – a lowlife’s profile
He started out as a film director under director Bharathi Raja’s tutelage. His hero is LTTE’s leader Prabhakaran. I don’t know if he has converted to Christianity but another name that is used for him is Sebastian Seeman. He calls himself an atheist but is rabidly anti-Hindu. Listen to this speech in 2014, where he insults Bhagwan Ram and all the Hindu Gods.
He got into activism and politics post 2011 and participated in the famous Kudankulam nuclear power project protests (Ford Foundation funded through another rice bag convert Udaya Kumar). To summarise his trajectory in one sentence – he has been essentially anti-Hindu, wanting a separate Tamil country. He is a married man. His wife is a DMK leader’s daughter. And in the words of Vijayalakshmi, the actress who tried committing suicide –
“I would like to tell fans who are watching the video just because I was born in Karnataka, Seeman has tortured me a lot. As a woman, I have put up with it to my highest capabilities. I won’t be able handle the pressure anymore. I am from the Pillai community, the same community LTTE leader Prabhakaran is part of. Prabhakaran is the only reason Seeman is who he is today, but now he has been harassing me on social media continuously. You slut shamed me to make me feel the pain and it is up to me to decide on what to do after facing such insults from you. I request my fans not to let Seeman get away from this case. He should never get anticipatory bail. My death should be a big eye-opener to everyone. I don’t want to be a slave to anybody.”
Vairamuthu – yet another lowlife’s profile
In Oct 2018 when the #Metoo movement was in its full swing, singer Chinmayi accused Vairamuthu, a lyricist in Tamil Cinema of sexual harassment. Vairamuthu, in the same year (2018), spoke disparagingly about Andal, one of the greatest and only female Azhwar. Andal married Sri Ranganatha (Vishnu) and sang his praises all through his life. Her temple is in Srivilliputhur and thousands believe she is Goddess Lakshmi’s avatar. This lowlife had the audacity to call her “devadasi”.
Vairamuthu is again rabidly anti-Hindu while professing to be an atheist. His wife has left him because of his womanising. The late DMK chief Karunanidhi would wake up everyday and speak first to Vairamuthu, allegedly because of their common love for the Tamil language.
Chinmay’s complaint –
When Chinmayi complained, A R Rahman’s (the same Oscar winning music composer who accused the Mumbai music mafia recently) sister came on a TV show and when asked about Vairamuthu, she said – “I have also heard the rumours and I know Chinmayi was harassed. When the news broke, Rahman asked me if it was true.”
The consequence –
Chinmayi’s opportunities have dwindled, but this lowlife Vairamuthu continues to be hailed as “kavi-per-arasu” (emperor of poetry). Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth, Stalin, A R Rahman etc etc etc all share the dais with this man, while no one as much as squeaks in support of Chinmayi. My mother switches off the TV when his face comes up !!
T. Rajender – yet another lowlife
In 2017, T. Rajender and his co-star actress Dhansika were part of the launch event of their movie “Vizhithiru”. Dhansika spoke first and forgot to thank T. Rajender. This man’s room sized ego got hurt real bad and he slut shamed her onstage. The rest of the cast and director of the movie sat around laughing or staying silent while Dhansika started to cry. Watch the 3 min video –
This man has a skirt-chaser for an elder son, a daughter who has recently converted to Christianity and a younger son who converted to Islam. He is famous for speaking dialogues with rhyming words and is an actor, singer, producer and director in the Tamil film industry. Not a single reporter or fellow actor spoke up against T. Rajender, and in support of Dhansika.
Hope the title of my blog gets clearer now .. Sexual, mental, physical and verbal harassment in the Tamil film industry continues, just the names of the harasser and the harassed change. 🙁
Suggested reading – Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth share stage with Vairamuthu
Mr. Kamal Haasan is also an atheist and rabidly anti-Hindu besides being a “porikki”. He is the greatest actor alive with a repertoire that few can match, but as a human being, the lesser said the better.
This is the sad reality of Tamil Cinema.
There is rampant conversion to Christianity and women have never been and are still not respected. Actresses like Khushboo are part of the problem because they don’t come out and support the Vijayalakshmis, Chinmayis and Dhansikas. Khushboo, Tapsee Pannu and Gowthami sit on panels and with a straight face, say they faced no “harassment”, luckily !! Spineless women. Am sad to call them as such, because I love all these three women, especially Khushboo and Gowthami. They have had a difficult life. Gowthami escaped Kamal Haasan’s clutches 🙁 and yet they continue to speak highly of these harassers. This has to change.
…. in support of all those who face(d) harassment.
Some of my earlier blogs – Wither #MeToo ?? and Why not #MeToo.