A few days ago, the Tamil Nadu government announced the State Film Awards for the years 2016 to 2022, recognising excellence in cinema and television. However, singer Chinmayi Sripada was not included in the list, even though she had given several hits during that period, particularly in the film 96. (Also read: Tamil Nadu State Film Awards 2016 to 2022 full list: Suriya, Dhanush, Sai Pallavi, win big in various categories)
What Chinmayi said
A fan took to X and tagged Chinmayi and pointed out that she deserved to win for her songs in 96. “Chinmayi replied, “Not shocked :)I would have been shell shocked if they HAD given especially after naming Vairamuthu :)”
During India’s #MeToo movement in 2018, Chinmayi called out Vairamuthu for sexually abusing her and highlighted claims made against others within the music industry. She was removed from the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union (SICTADAU) after she came out in support of the women who had named Radha Ravi, president of the dubbing union.
When she was recently asked how she worked in 96 and Leo despite the ban, she explained on X, “96 was before the Metoo broke out. Leo – I was hired despite the ban and Radha Ravi’s Union tried to find out who recorded me so that they can ban the Recording Engineer as well. Nobody has the bandwidth to fight these battles when a film is about to release. Radha Ravi sends a diktat to all the Unions to say a person is banned so other Unions should NOT hire them as well. Many have gone through the same. Incidentally AnbAriv were also banned by their Union. But they were given relief by the Court. I have been fighting my case for 6+ years. That’s how it works.”
In 2025, Chinmayi sang at the audio launch of Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life, a Tamil film. The song as well as her performance received widespread love from fans on social media.