Filmmaker-actor RJ Balaji’s Suriya and Trisha Krishnan-starrer Karuppu was released in theatres on Friday, a day late due to financial issues. The film received a good response from the audience, and singer Chinmayi Sripaada received praise for her dubbing for Trisha’s character, Preethi. She admitted she was ‘afraid’ to talk about it because of this.
Chinmayi Sripaada on dubbing for Trisha Krishnan in Karuppu
On her X (formerly Twitter) account, Chinmayi got candid about dubbing for Karuppu and wrote, “Strange I am readying myself saying this… I was genuinely afraid this time, of sharing that I dubbed in Karuppu.”
She explained that she has known Balaji and his wife, Divya Nagarajan, for a long while, and she does not want them to face backlash, like the team of Leo did when she dubbed for Trisha. “I have known R J Balaji a long time – he and his wife, are such lovely people and RJB himself, is someone whose entire life is such a story of grit, determination and a man working so, very hard to make his dreams come true. Maybe because I knew him and his family so well, that I was scared for him of what pushbacks he will get based on the experience last time with Leo,” read her note.
Chinmayi also revealed that some scenes in the film were triggering for her, writing, “I remember crying buckets dubbing a couple of scenes in the film – it was a massive trigger, almost like I saw everything play out from the past, on the big screen.” However, the singer thanked Balaji for letting her dub for Trisha. She also wrote with hope, “And I hope Karuppu saami will help me work in my home ground, without fear and work without having to be scared of what will happen next. May God help Unban me and the others who have been banned from working, for years. #KaruppuBlockbuster.”
What happened when Chinmayi Sripaada dubbed for Leo
Chinmayi was expelled from the Tamil Dubbing Union in 2018 after she spoke out against sexual harassment in the industry during the #MeToo movement and named union president Radha Ravi. Director Lokesh Kanagaraj and producer Lalit Kumar bypassed the ban to hire Chinmayi to dub for Trisha in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada versions of Vijay-starrer Leo (2023).
The move marked Chinmayi’s comeback but triggered immediate backlash and controversy from the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union (SICTADAU). Union executives openly condemned the move, with Rajendran calling it a breach of rules and claiming that Lokesh paid a penalty of ₹50,000 to the union to employ Chinmayi.
