Chinmayi has questioned the authenticity of Radha Ravi’s Datuk honour. The singer has claimed that Radha Ravi was not given the honour by the Malaysian Government and that he was merely selected for it.
News of him being selected for the prestigious honour, doled out to illustrious members from across the world by Malaysian Government, were in circulation in 2012. However, there is no actual record of Radha Ravi receiving the honour. There is also no mention of the actor’s name in the list of people awarded the title in the website of the Malaysian Government.
In a series of tweets, Chinmayi says that Radha Ravi anointed himself with the title. Radha Ravi even named a Dubbing Union building after himself. The building bears the name ‘Datho Radha Ravi Valaagam’.
Mr. Radha Ravi had anointed himself with the highly coveted ‘Datuk’ title bestowed by the Govt of Malaysia. Mr. @VDasarathy said there is no real report anywhere except this news article which says he has been ‘selected’.https://t.co/KDW6nsQnM1
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 29, 2018
He named the Dubbing Union building built with the funds of the 10% of all dubbing artiste incomes and called it the Datuk Radha Ravi Valaagam.
But… pic.twitter.com/cRluOuZHLP
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 29, 2018
The building was constructed with the funds the union garnered by its decision to take ten percent of income generated by its members.
Chinmayi spoke to a representative of the Chief Minister of Melaka, Malaysia, and confirmed that Radha Ravi had never received the ‘Datuk’ honour. His name is not mentioned in the list of people honoured by the Malaysian government.
However, my dear jimblippippiees on Instagram did some more sleuthing and I eventually wrote to the Chief Secretary Public Affairs of the Chief Minister of Melaka, from where Mr. Radha Ravi claims to have been awarded the title and I got this response. pic.twitter.com/jZqzjOYLw2
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 29, 2018
Chinmayi alleged that another member of the union was wrongfully terminated from the union. In such a case, it is only right that the ten percent commission taken by the union be refunded, Chinmayi states.
She also alleged that the union, which is probably the only union in the film industry to demand a commission from its members, spent in excess of its income. She says that the union has spent over Rs 20 lakh in court cases without approval of its members.
The singer wanted to know what the union has done with the crores of rupees received as funds.
What have the Dubbing Union office bearers done with the crores of funds received &how come a Trade Union has excess expenditure over Income?If they go about terminating members at their whim & fancy they might as well refund the commision they’ve made from these artistes so far
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) November 29, 2018
Radha Ravi was not available for a comment on this article. His spokesperson, and a spokesperson for the union, both said that there would be no comment on the allegations put forth by Chinmayi.
Chinmayi made these accusations in response to an article in which Radha Ravi claimed that many of the women who shared their #MeToo stories did so in a bid to extort money from men.
Chinmayi was terminated from the Dubbing Union earlier this month for not paying the subscription fee. The singer says that her termination was illegal and likely motivated by her decision to go public with #MeToo stories shared by anonymous women about Radha Ravi. Chinmayi, along with Booma Rao and Dasarathi (former members of the Dubbing Union), have alleged that Radha Ravi ran the union like his own personal fiefdom.
