Chinmayi questions Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan for praising Vairamuthu’s Jnanpith win
Singer Chinmayi Sripada, who took the name of lyricist Vairamuthu during the MeToo movement, has criticized actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan for publicly praising the veteran poet after he was selected for the Jnanpith award.
Singer Chinmayi Sripada, who was among those who named lyricist Vairamuthu during the MeToo movement, criticized Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan for praising the lyricist after he was selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award.
In 2018, Chinmayi accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment, noting that around 20 women had also made allegations of misconduct against him. He also compared him to Harvey Weinstein.
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Chinmayi Sripada called Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan
In a post on X, Sripada openly criticized the decision and questioned the praise she was receiving from senior figures in the industry. After Vikram The actor penned a congratulatory note for Vairamuthu on
“The strangest thing – one of the women from his own party publicly took the name of the poet. At the end of the day, men will stand with their brothers, uncles, fathers, friends, gurus. Who cares if many women were traumatized? (sic),” he said.
Chinmayi also reacted to Rajinikanth’s post dedicated to Vairamuthu’s Jnanpith Award win. Chinmayi’s post, translated into English, read, “Ayyyyyyyyy!!! Puriyaave Puriyaadha??! (Didn’t understand at all?)”.
Rajinikanth in his message congratulated Vairamuthu for this honour. He wrote, “My hearty congratulations to my dear friend, the esteemed poet Vairamuthu, recipient of the great Jnanpith award of our Indian nation.”
Chinmayi did not stop here; He expressed his disappointment through a series of posts.
“In 2018, several women of different age groups named a poet-lyricist as their molester. Today the Jnanpith has been given to a man named after someone like Mr. Jayakanthan, whose daughter had called Vairamuthu to submit a forged, fake letter by Mr. Jayakanthan ‘praising Vairamuthu’.”
In another post, Chinmayi opened up about the consequences she faced after speaking out publicly during the #MeToo movement. She said that while many women had raised their voices earlier, “the collective voice of the women who had spoken out was suppressed. I paid a very heavy price – the other women who left their dreams behind were not half as lucky as I was.”
All about Vairamuthu’s Jnanpith Award win
Meanwhile, the Jnanpith Award is the country’s highest literary honour, and Vairamuthu is the third Tamil recipient in 20 years. The award recognizes his achievements in poetry, novels and film songs, highlighting his skills across multiple genres.
Vairamuthu began his literary journey with the publication of poetry collections Vaigarai Megangal In 1972. Since then, he has written more than 40 books, including poems and several novels. His writings are celebrated for their depth and cultural resonance in Tamil literature, and his work spans more than five decades.