Rising Stars 3 judges Neeti Mohan, Shankar Mahadevan, Diljit Dosanjh condemned for trivialising sexual harassment

Singer Neeti Mohan, actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh and music composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan, who serve as judges on the singing reality show Rising Stars 3, have received flak on social media after they pulled a prank on the sets of the show, reports Hindustan Times. 

Shankar Mahadevan, Neeti Mohan and Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of Rising Stars 3. Twitter

During a recent episode of Rising Stars 3, two contestants, Kunal and Shikhar, addressed Neeti as 'kadak' and 'raapchik in a laal saree'. Reacting to the comments, Neeti criticised the contestants for using sexually charged words. She told the contestants that they were on national television and the show does not allow for usage of such words.

"Do you think this is casual? I am here representing all the women around the country and I don’t allow this,"  she was quoted as saying by Bollywood Hungama.

Diljit and Shankar, too, objected to it and threatened to disqualify them. But minutes later, the trio burst out laughing saying that they were pulling a prank.

Women's rights activist Kirthi Jayakumar and singer Chinmayi Sripaada, took to Twitter and condemned the judges for trivialising sexual harassment.

Kirthi, in a series of tweets, wrote how the judges threw "the #MeToo movement under the bus" by making light of a serious issue.

Absolutely appalled at how @neetimohan18, @diljitdosanjh, @Shankar_Live and the rest of the crew literally threw the #MeToo movement under the bus on @ColorsTV. Speaking up about sexual harassment is not easy, and here you're all belittling it as "mazaak".

— Kirthi (@kirthijayakumar) March 23, 2019

Terrible that @neetimohan18 says that she represents all girls on the stage, and then threatens to walk out in response to what is clearly inappropriate and verbal sexual harassment, and then proceeds to laugh at how it is all a prank. Seriously, sexual harassment is not a joke. — Kirthi (@kirthijayakumar) March 23, 2019

And now @diljitdosanjh apologized to them!! @Shankar_Live says it was a prank by one contestant on another. Thanks to how casually you all treat an issue so serious, there is ZERO accountability in this industry for sexual harassment. — Kirthi (@kirthijayakumar) March 23, 2019

I truly hope you all introspect and think about how you've undermined such a grave issue. You've completely disrespected the emotional labour it takes to fight harassment, to speak up and to seek redress. You've reduced it all to a joke @neetimohan18 @Shankar_Live @diljitdosanjh — Kirthi (@kirthijayakumar) March 23, 2019

.@ColorsTV stop condoning sexual harassment. https://t.co/qVcoMz7vbb

— Kirthi (@kirthijayakumar) March 24, 2019

Responding to Kirthi's tweet, Chinmayi Sripaada reminded the judges that her calling out Vairamuthu as a sexual offender resulted in her expulsion from the dubbing union and that she is fighting a court case.

Hi Shankar sir and Neeti - I called out Mr Vairamuthu and have been banned by the TN dubbing union. Please do know this aint funny. I am fighting a court case. Though support would have been great, this tone deaf ‘joke’ could have been avoided. 🙏🙏🙏 — Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 24, 2019