Kerala’s ONV literary award was presented to Tamil lyricist recently, and this has triggered massive backlash with many celebs calling out the jury. Actress Parvathy Thiruvothu called out filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and members of the jury for presenting the esteemed award to Vairamuthu, who is a MeToo accused. Singer Chinmayi Sripada was the first to slam the award.
Women’s Collective in Cinema (WCC) also released a powerful statement on Thursday, expressing solidarity to Chinmayi and slamming the jury. Condemning the jury’s decision, WCC said: “In this context, we urge the jury members of O.N.V Literary Awards to make choices that uphold the values and dignity associated with Shri O.N.V Kurup, rather than honour alleged perpetrators. Is Art created through harassment and cruelty to coworkers worth being celebrated?”
Responding to the massive outrage, Vairamuthu said that the sees that the award as a honour given to Tamil language and Tamilians by Malayalis. Dismissing the protests, he said that no one can keep battling lies for long. Speaking to Manorama Online, the veteran lyricist said that he deems it better to ignore lies and focus on work.
In the interview, Vairamuthu added that he long been a fan of Malayalam literature. Speaking of music collaborations, he said he has huge respect for singer Yesudas and added that he wrote the lyrics of K.S. Chitra’s first Tamil song.
In a statement on social media, Parvathy had said: “ONV sir is our pride. His contribution as a poet and lyricist is incomparable; how it has nourished our culture. Our hearts and minds have benefited through his body of work. This is exactly why it is immense disrespect to give such an honour in his name to the accused of sexual assault crimes.”
Allegations of sexual harassment were made by 17 women against Vairamuthu, during the MeToo movement of 2018.
Rima Kallingal, Geetu Mohandas and Anjali Menon also condemned the hnour. Vocalist TM Krishna called it ‘utterly shameful’.