Amala Paul Tweets In Support Of Leena Manimekalai; Shares Experience Of Filming ‘Thiruttu Payale 2’ With Susi Ganesan

Earlier today, actress Amala Paul tweeted her support for filmmaker Leena Manimekalai who has accused director Susi Ganesan of sexual harassment. In a statement published via her Twitter handle, the actress narrated her own experience of working on a project with Ganesan. Calling the director a man with “a twisted set of moral values and utterly low respect for women”, Amala said she could understand how an aspiring director like Leena could make for an easy target.

Talking about filming Thiruttu Payale 2 with Susi Ganesan, the actress wrote: “Despite being the lead actress for Thiruttu Payale 2, I was subjected to double meaning talks, misrepresented offers and unchivalrous bodily contacts. This pretty much made my experience of shooting TP2 a mentally fatiguing one. I can totally understand what she could have been subjected to [sic].”

Amala went on to add that she applauded Leena’s courage for “narrating her ordeal on a public platform”.

Last week, filmmaker Leena Manimekalai named Susi Ganesan as the person who had harassed her; she had earlier published a Facebook post detailing the incident without naming him. In the post, Manimekalai wrote about a filmmaker who had attempted to assault her in his car in 2005 under the pretext of giving her a ride back home. The note was published shortly after the kidnapping and sexual assault of a popular Malayalam actress in 2017.

Susi Ganesan refuted her allegations in a conversation with Silverscreen, called Leena a ‘failure’ and said that she was trying to settle old scores for not being given an opportunity to work with him. Ganesan filed a criminal defamation suit against Leena last week at the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet. Speaking to the press after filing the case, he said: “I will be filing both civil and criminal cases. Many are trying to derail the #MeToo movement for selfish reasons and personal gain. This will only reduce opportunities for women in the work-space.”

Update:

Amala Paul tweeted later that Susi Ganesan and his wife called her after her tweets in support of Leena. Amala Paul said the Ganesans mocked her.