Me Too: Amala Paul accuses director Susi Ganeshan, says she was subjected to double meaning talks
South actress Amala Paul has said in tweet that she was verbally abused and slut-shamed by Susi Ganesan and his wife for voicing support for director Leena Manimekalai, who had accused Ganesan of sexual harassment. Amala also recounted in a long note how she, too, was sexually harassed on the sets of her 2017 movie with Susi, Thiruttu Payale 2.
She wrote on Twitter, “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 strted abusing me&to my surprise his wife strted laughing&they both joined to slut shame me. De feel de can scare me with dese tactics".
Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai accused Susi Ganesan of trapping her in a car in 2005 and insisting that she goes home with him. It's only after she threatened to harm herself with her pocket knife that he allegedly let her go. Leena has since been facing a barrage of questions from the mainstream media and on social media.
Apart from filing a criminal defamation case against her, Susi Ganesan and his wife have also been indulging in slut-shaming her. Amala's statement in support of Leena has also attracted similar responses on social media, with several people referring to her much publicised divorce with director AL Vijay and the Suchi Leaks controversy, in which her name was thrown around by a Twitter handle belonging to singer Suchitra. Amala, however, has never backed down in the face of online abuse or trolling.
In her statement on Wednesday, Amala said that Susi Ganesan had "utterly low respect for women" and that he'd spoken and behaved inappropriately with her during the shoot of the film Thiruttu Payale 2. She also said that she believed Leena Manimekalai and added that the judiciary and government must come up with a system to address the issue.
