Four years after she was shadowbanned from the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union (SICTADAU), singer and voice-over artist Chinmayi will be making a comeback in Leo starring Vijay and Trisha. Chinmayi has dubbed for actor Trisha in the film. Reacting to the Leo trailer release on Thursday, October 5, Chinmayi said, “I am a million times grateful to Mr Lokesh Kanagaraj and Mr Lalit for having taken this stand. THAT. IS. MY. VOICE. IN. LEO. FOR. TRISHA. And guess what? I have dubbed in Tamil, Telugu AND Kannada.” (sic)
In response to the tweet, Trisha said that she was grateful to her.
Several social media users who continue to support her fight against sexual harassment in the film industry, expressed their happiness over the comeback.
Reacting to the wishes on her ‘comeback’ to the Tamil dubbing scene, Chinmayi said that she teared up when she faced the mic in the studio. She said, “I did. When I faced the mic in the studio. I teared up. I wasn't sure if my voice will be retained. That I was not allowed to work. I am not sure what the future holds. But I am happy.”
Chinmayi’s membership was cancelled from the SICTADAU in 2018 after she came out in support of women who named actor-politician Radha Ravi, the president of the dubbing union, in the Me Too movement. Challenging the decision of the dubbing union, Chinmayi approached the court and got an interim stay on the ban. But despite that she continued to be boycotted in the Tamil film industry. When Chinmayi spoke to TNM in December last year, she said there were little to no dubbing offers, and singing opportunities had become rare, she disclosed.
The singer lamented that she was dropped from several singing projects after “calls were made at the eleventh hour.” However, Chinmayi continued to dub for Telugu movies like Pagal (2021) and Sita Ramam (2022), among others. The last Tamil movie Chinmayi dubbed for was 96, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha, which released in 2018.
Read: Me Too backlash: Four years on, Chinmayi continues to face shadow ban in Tamil cinema
Leo will be releasing in theatres on October 19.