Chennai: Joining the long list of women who pointed out fingers on national award winning lyricist Vairamuthu for alleged sexual harassment is music composer and Oscar-winner A R Rahman’s sister A R Reihana.
On increasing complaints of sexual harassment against him, she said, ‘It’s an open secret. I have heard many in the past.” Also, another singer has come out with allegations against the lyricist in her social media page.
Speaking to a news channel, Reihana said that as soon as Rahman came to know about this incident, he asked “Is this news true?” and she told him about the incidents that happened to others in the industry.
In many allegations against Vairamuthu, the lyricist actually used Rahman’s name to trap female singers. Reihana said that Rahman doesnt know the industry secrets because he is someone who never entertained gossips.
Talking about Chinmayi’s allegations against Vairamuthu, Reihana said that she believes in Chinmayi and supports #MeToo movement. “But I couldn’t accept the fact that Chinmayi and her mom were afraid of Vairamuthu,” said Reihana.
Stating that forced sex amounts to rape, a singer Bhuvana Seshan, wrote in her social media account that she had a traumatising experience with Vairmauthu 20 years ago. “I have carried the pain in my heart for years and I shudder every time I see his face on television.”
She said, “I met Vairamuthu for a jingle. Vairamuthu penned the lyrics and was also producing the project. He was ‘impressed’ by my voice and diction. He took my number and asked me to meet him in his office wuith a demo. I gave him the demo. He started connecting with me on phone.”
“One day, he said I not just have a great voice but also an intelligent woman. Discomforting started after he described me in Tamil. I told him am uncomfortable. I simply told him not to call anymore.”
Bhuvana Seshan further said, “He called me to accompany him to Malaysia. When I refused, he threatened to spoil my career.” She said that she subsequently lost three abroad trips and recording opportunities.
SIMBU SHOCKER
Actress and TV host Lekha Washington who was seen in films like Jayam Kondaan and Kalyana Samayal Saadham has puzzled everyone with a tweet mentioning her dropped film Kettavan with STR followed by the hashtag #MeToo.
‘One word : Kettavan. #metoo’, tweeted Lekha Washington.
A few days back, she posted ‘Spent the day today agonising about whether to talk about some of the stuff that’s happened #MeTooIndia’