Tollywood actress Sri Reddy who initiated her own kind of Me Too campaign against sexual harassment in the film industry tasted her first victory when the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognizance of her allegations of sexual exploitation. Hours after the NHRC notice, the Movie Artists’ Association (MAA) on Thursday lifted a ban on her.
Not just that it also lifted the ban on other actors associated with her and announced setting up of a Committee Against Sexual Harassment which would meet once in three months. The MAA President, Shivaji Raja, declared the committee would comprise senior filmmakers and actors who would look into the complaints of sexual harassment.
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Popular filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma posted a series of tweets in support of the actress, he even termed her ‘Sri Lakshmi Bai’. Here are the tweets.
Casting couch existed ever since the advent of Cinema a 100 years back ..Not getting into individual allegations @MsSriReddy has drawn more attention to the evils of Casting Couch than anyone in the last 100 years and I salute her for that 👍
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 12, 2018
Those who thought @MsSriReddy was wrong in stripping can’t deny,its only that shock which woke up both national and international communities ..Sri Reddy’s mother should be proud of what her daughter achieved for film industry in general and aspiring actresses in particular
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 12, 2018
The courageousness of @MsSriReddy to strip to get attention towards the casting couch exploitation managed to raise the attention of NHRC and this is an amazing achievement
https://t.co/Fo1ojrfCoh— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 12, 2018
To historically compare the victory of @MsSriReddy …Jhansi Lakshmi Bai used her sword as a weapon to fight for her kingdom and Sri Lakshmi Bai used her own body as a weapon to fight the Maledom in the film industry
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 12, 2018
Hey @MsSriReddy I respect you for taking such immensely courageous decisions and I salute you for achieving such a sensational and BLOCKBUSTER ViCTORY🙏🙏🙏
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 12, 2018
On 7 March, the actress stripped naked in protest outside the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce in Hyderabad. Sri Reddy had alleged that she has been sexually assaulted by many producers and directors of the film industry. She claimed that her membership in the Movie Artists Association (MAA) had not been accepted, even after she has acted in many films and produced three films.
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Sri Reddy had named Rana Daggubati’s brother and popular producer Suresh Babu’s son Abhiram of sexually exploiting her and Indian Idol fame Sreeram of sending lewd texts. However, none of the messages suggest that she was forced into a relationship with Abhiram.