Actress Sri Reddy has turned up the heat on the Telugu film industry with her no-holds barred protest against the Movie Artistes’ Association (MAA). In addition, she even levelled a string of allegations against prominent names of the fraternity, such as actor Rana Daggubati’s brother, Abhiram Daggubati. Amidst all of this turmoil in her life, she has found a staunch supporter in filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma.
RGV’s support for the actress has been all over his Twitter, right after her strip protest on April 7. He called Sri Reddy a national celebrity that everyone had begun to take note of.
Sri Reddy has become a national celebrity..People in Mumbai,who don’t even know Pawan Kalyan are talking about Sri Reddy
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 8, 2018
And now that there have been positive developments in favour of the actress, Ram Gopal Verma is once again on an appreciation spree.
Yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu congnizance of the allegations of sexual exploitation made by Sri Reddy and issued notices to the Telangana government and the I&B Ministry.
In its statement, the NHRC has question why the government has not taken any actions in lieu of Sri Reddy’s complaints but has gone on to charge her with obscenity for her naked protest.
In addition, the Commission also stated that MAA’s refusal to grant the actress membership after ignoring her complaints of sexual exploitation cast some doubts on the integrity of their decision.
Following NHRC’s statement, the Movie Artistes’ Association lifted the ban on Sri Reddy’s membership and even announced the establishment of a Committee Against Sexual Harassment that would hereon look into such complaints.
In light of these victories for Sri Reddy, Ram Gopal Varma launched into a series of tweets extolling the actress’ efforts.
He saluted her for raising her voice against the evils of casting couch in a manner unlike anything seen in cinema in the last 100 years.
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
He even proclaimed that Sri Reddy’s mother should be proud that her daughter’s bold protest shook national and international communities to the core.
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
He even shared the official statement of the NHRC, pointing out how Reddy’s protest has drawn their attention to such a blatant practice in the industry which deserved their attention.
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
However, RGV may have gone a little too far when he compared ‘the victory of Sri Reddy’ to that of Rani of Jhansi Lakshmibai!
According to him, while Rani Lakshmibai used her sword as a weapon to fight for her kingdom, Sri Reddy was using her body as a weapon in her fight for justice.
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
He even called it a blockbuster victory, because of course, filmmaker.
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
All things considered, Sri Reddy probably deserved the praise for not being a silent victim and choosing to raise her voice in such a bold fashion. Definitely a well-deserved kudos! However, yeh thoda zyada ho gaya na? But then again, is RGV even RGV without his scandalous statements?