Who is singer Chinmayi Sripada? Why Kollywood silenced her voice for years?

Chinmayi Sripada made a powerful comeback at the ‘Thug Life’ pre-release event in Chennai.

Transcript

00:00This Hollywood singer, Chinmay Sripada, is back in How.

00:06The singer made waves at the Thug Life pre-release event in Chennai on May 24,

00:112025 with her cover, Muthu Madai, sparking curiosity. Where had she been all this while?

00:16Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu also chimed in, sharing Chinmay's performance and writing,

00:20Is this the voice that has been banned since 2018? She called for her return,

00:25saying, Bring back Chinmay. Chinmay had sung the Telugu and Hindi versions of

00:29Mutata Madai, originally sung by Dee in Tamil, and her rendition quickly went viral,

00:34to the extent that even the organisers shared it separately due to public demand.

00:38But her absence wasn't by choice. In 2018, Chinmay was expelled from the dubbing union

00:43after she publicly supported women accusing its then-president Radha Ravi of sexual harassment.

00:48She also accused senior lyricist Vaira Mutu of misconduct,

00:52becoming one of the most prominent voices of India's MeToo movement in 2018.

00:56The fallout, a steep professional cost, fewer dubbing roles, and a near silence from

01:01Collywood, despite her acclaimed work in films like 96. Chinmay isn't just a celebrated playback

01:06singer, she is also dubbed for top actresses like Samantha, and her Bollywood hits include

01:11Tere Bina and Titli. Trained in Carnatic music, she got her break at 15, thanks to AR Rahman.

01:16She sung in multiple Indian languages and his love for her Ghazal and Sufi renditions too.