Sowcar Janaki, Rani Mukerji's ill-informed comments on #MeToo cause the movement untold harm

I was, for the longest time, a fan of Sowcar Janaki. She was an actor with a presence; someone who imparted a distinctive touch to any role she played. And she did get to portray some very strong characters on screen, winning multiple awards over the years and starring alongside every leading hero of the say in Tamil and Telugu cinema. She successfully raised a family as a single mother and even ran a popular restaurant in Chennai. At 87, she is an independent woman who made it on her own terms. So, when an icon like her says “#MeToo is crap” in a well-publicised TV interview, it is certainly shocking and unexpected. Especially since she went on to aver that she is a ‘feminist’ who stands up for women. In a rather long diatribe against women who have complained about sexual harassment, Janaki said, “When you complain about things which happened long ago, things that might not have happened, could have happened, which you might have agreed to then because it was convenient, but are now complaining about [sic]”. She called complaining about behaviour like stalking or groping, demeaning and shameful to the woman’s family. Meanwhile, comedian YG Mahendran who conducted the interview, not only egged Janaki on, but applauded her every statement, adding some trite and offensive jokes of his own. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada, at whom Janaki’s barbs were obviously aimed, said she was distraught on watching the interview. [During the second wave of the #MeTooIndia movement a few months ago, Chinmayi had accused lyricist Vairamuthu of behaving in a sexually improper manner with her when she was just starting out in her career — a charge he denies. Her membership to the South Indian Cine Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union was rescinded a little while later, seemingly because she had not paid her annual dues. Chinmayi herself contends that she is a lifetime member, so the issue of unpaid fees does not apply. She cannot work in the industry unless her union membership is reinstated, and she is being asked to pay an unexplained sum of Rs 1.5 lakhs and issue an apology, in exchange for being readmitted to the organisation. Incidentally, the Union’s president, Radha Ravi, had targeted Chinmayi for amplifying #MeToo allegations naming him.] [caption id=“attachment_5817021” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Barbs about #MeToo coming from seniors in the film industry, like Sowcar Janaki and Rani Mukerji — besides being politically incorrect and insensitive — are even more hurtful to the brave women who have come out publicly against powerful predators since the movement came to India. Images via Facebook[/caption] In an informal conversation, Chinmayi told me: “I understand Sowcar Janaki_ji_ comes from a different generation and a different era. But I don’t want to generalise and say that everyone belonging to that generation has the same attitude. My landlady is 100 years old, and she is so supportive of my stand. Actually a lot of people told me I should have taken the advice of seniors in the industry before taking this step.  But I don’t know if I would have benefitted since most of the seniors are in the same mould and I don’t know whom I could have asked for advice. In fact while watching the interview with Janaki_ji_, I was even more upset that YG Mahendran Sir was actually applauding her every statement.” Chinmayi’s husband — the actor Rahul Ravindran — responded to Sowcar Janaki’s comments by writing a sensitive blog post addressed to young women aspiring to work in the film industry. He advised them never to feel shame when standing up for themselves and exposing predators. His post, titled “It’s never, ever, ever your fault” can be read here. [The post also includes the portion from Sowcar Janaki’s interview in which she refers to #MeToo.] Just a few days before Sowcar Janaki’s interview aired, Chinmayi was shamed at a press conference convened by senior dubbing artist V Hema Malini (best known as “Silk Smitha’s voice”), an office bearer of the Dubbing Artistes Union. Referring to Chinmayi’s situation — being unable to get work while her union membership is suspended — Malini said: “If she doesn’t get dubbing jobs, tell her to go and wash vessels in 10 people’s houses to earn money”. The female colleagues who surrounded Malini — senior dubbing artists all — applauded enthusiastically. Barbs like these coming from senior women from the same industry — besides being politically incorrect (as one of Chinmayi’s supporters pointed out, V Hema Malini’s crass comment didn’t merely shame Sripada but was also demeaning to domestic workers) and insensitive — are even more hurtful to the brave women who have come out publicly against powerful predators. And this attitude isn’t restricted to the south film industries alone. Bollywood, for instance, has seen actresses like Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherji make ill-thought of comments about the #MeToo movement. Mukerji, most recently, was quoted during an actress’ roundtable as saying : “I think as a woman, you have to be that powerful within yourself, you have to believe that you’re so powerful that if you ever come into a situation like that you have the courage to say ‘back off’ [sic]. I think you have to have the courage to be able to protect yourself.” She also said that self-defence and martial arts (for girls) needed to be compulsory in schools, adding that women had to take responsibility for their safety themselves. The comment prompted quite the Twitter backlash against Mukerji, with many pointing out that her views seemed to be coloured by her position of entitlement and ignorance about the insidious nature of harassment. That there were so many ready to “school” Mukerji on social media could be construed as owing to the greater awareness about sexual harassment since #MeToo first flooded our timelines in 2017. Chinmayi, for instance, says she has seen a change in mindset, especially in the kinds of messages she receives on social media. “When I started talking about #MeToo, the majority of the comments on my timeline were negative.  Now, I find most people are supportive. Of course I do get quite a few negative comments still but they are now in the minority. I can see the change in attitude.” But she also added that negative comments from seniors and well-established female public figures would confuse younger women. “They will again wonder whether they should speak up or not,” Chinmayi said. Setbacks aside, the singer certainly is undeterred in her fight. “As Rima Kalingal and many of my other colleagues have pointed out, if you plant a tree today, you may not enjoy the fruit yourself,” she points out. “It would be for your grandchildren.” The fight Chinmayi and other women are fighting today is to give courage to the generations yet to come.