Chennai: Singer Chinmayi has been told that her termination from the South Indian Cine Television Artist and Dubbing Union (SICTADU) can be reconsidered if she coughs up Rs 1.5 lakh as fee for readmission as a new member and also submit an apology note to the union. This decision was taken at a meeting of the 'Dubbing Coordinators' held at Chennai on Friday.
“Apparently I have to pay 1.5 lakhs, send an apology letter and THEN the dubbing Union will reinstate me and let me work in Tamilnadu in Tamil films. The Union has made lakhs from my income since 2006. And I have to pay 1.5 lakhs again for my right to work”, tweeted Chinmayi protesting against the union diktat.
The singer has been getting huge support from the twitterati, with Khushboo Sundar posting: “Every accusation will have to go through the grind of investigation.. asking @Chinmayi to pay a fine to be reinstated into dubbing artiste union is unjustified and not acceptable”.
The 'accusation' is about Chinmayee's allegation that lyricist Vairamuthu had misbehaved during a Dubai concert trip some years ago. But then, Dubbing Union Coordinator Santhakumar insists that the Union's decision about Chinmayee's suspension and readmission fee “has nothing to do with that Vairamuthu charge”. She had not paid up the annual subscription of '170 for two years and so her membership was terminated as per the bylaws, he told DC.
“The Union's executive committee decides periodically about the quantum of annual fee and the admission fee. I had paid '100 when I was admitted in 1988 and now it's '1.5 lakh. And the annual subscription will be '250 from 2019 whereas it's now '170”, he said.
He said the letter being sought from Chinmayee “is not an apology but for explaining why she had defaulted paying subscription for two years. She could say she was away and could not pay, or something like that. The committee will take a decision after that”, he said.
However, things do not appear to be that easy and that straight at the Union. Its chief Radha Ravi apparently got upset with Chinmayee after she made some remarks in the social media sometime back. And besides, the MeToo call on Vairamuthu has had its impact on the career of this hugely talented award-winning singer.
Chinmayee, however, seems undaunted by all the hostility thrown at her by the influential people in the industry and the thinning of assignments on that count. Among her latest tweets is the recall of her husband Rahul Ravindran's post of 17 October and that's quite interesting, and inspiring. “My husband strongest”, she said in this tweet.
“All you jobless trolls who keep making noises on my timeline”, begins Rahul, “you might be very few in number…but boy, you can be annoying! So here goes once and for all. My wife might be an inconvenience to you because she's a rare breed that has the courage to speak up. You might see her as a threat to status quo. That of male privilege. Deal with it. Like it or not, the world is changing. It will be an equal world soon. And the voices will get louder until then. But she is not an inconvenience to me. I married a woman who is loving, caring, kind and a selfless giver. She doesn't care half as much about herself as she cares about me and our puppies. And yeah, she's a complete romantic at heart. Dynamite combo bruv. Good luck finding you self one. There are plenty out there. But doubt they'd want you.Dot”
