Susi and Manjari slut-shamed me when I supported Leena, says Amala

Actress Amala Paul, who was bold enough to inform the office bearers of Nadigar Sangam when she was sexually harassed in Malaysia during a dance rehearsal, once again proved her grit in such matters by supporting filmmaker Leena Manimekalai, who recently accused director Susi Ganesan of sexually harassing her in 2005.

Amala who starred in the Susi Ganesan-directed Thiruttu Payale 2which released last November, has issued a #MeToo revelation saying she had faced a similar situation with the director while shooting for the film. The Mynaa actress posted yet another tweet where she has said, “Just got the shock of my life! @DirectorSusi & @sgmanjari called & I picked up to explain the stand. While I was trying to pacify his wife; Susi started abusing me & to my surprise his wife started laughing & they both joined to slut-shame me. Dey feel dey can scare me with dese tactics.” In a statement, Amala had then called Susi “a man who has a twisted set of moral values and utterly low respect for women.”

In outright support to the latest revelations on the director, Amala says in her statement, “I support Leena Manimekalai’s allegations and can imagine this episode happening with her, from a man who has a twisted set of moral values and utterly low respect for women. She being an aspiring director could have made her an easy target for such an incident to take place.

Me too, despite being the leading actress for Thirutupayale2, was subjected to double entendre, misrepresented offers and unchivalrous bodily contacts. This pretty much made my experience of shooting for TP2a mentally fatiguing one. I can totally understand what she could have been subjected to.

I applaud her for the courage she showed by narrating her ordeal on a public platform.

In our emerging economy and ever-expanding female work force, this behaviour is rampantly occurring everywhere, in all trades and industries.

These men treat their housewives and daughters different, but when it comes to their colleagues they don’t miss a chance to show an upper hand and take advantage.

This is one of the main reasons we Indians are unable to unlock our true potential either in creative, service or spiritual industries.

We have heard a lot of cases from spiritual and creative industries. But true change will come when service and unorganised sectors are also heard from on their #metoo ordeals.

It’s high time that government and judicial benches devise a system to address these issues of our society and not let the female workforce of the future be subjected to such harrowing #metoo incidents.”