Tamil singer Chinmayi Sripada has been asked by the dubbing union to pay Rs 1.5 Lakh as membership fee and write an apology if she wants her membership back. The union took away her membership last month for a non-payment of subscription fees. However, she said she did not receive any notification about it. In a tweet, Chinmaya wrote, “Apparently I have to pay Rs 1.5 Lakhs, send an apology letter and THEN the dubbing Union will reinstate me and let me work in Tamilnadu in Tamil films. The Union has made lakhs from my Income since 2006. And I have to pay 1.5 lakhs again for my right to work.”
Head of the union is actor-politician Radha Ravi, a name that made headlines when the MeToo movement gathered heat. Chinmaya added, “And I wonder why exactly I m being forced to * apologise * to the Dubbing Union and to Mr Radha Ravi? The Dubbing Union By Law says 2,500/- is the fee to become a new member. What is this random 1.5 Lakh fee + apology?”
However, joint secretary of South Indian Cine Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union, Rajendran called it an administrative decision that had nothing to do with MeToo. He said, “She hasn’t paid her subscription fee for the last two years. There are lifetime members, and others have a yearly subscription, and that’s a very meager amount. When dubbing artistes who do not even have a proper income pay the fee every year without defaulting, why can’t Chinmayi, who earns well, pay it? She hasn’t cared at all.”
