Sri Reddy tells us why she was ‘attacked’

Sri Reddy has filed a complaint with the Valsaravakkam police station alleging that two men tried to attack her at her residence on the night of March 20. In a chat with us, she said that she is caught in a tussle between the financier and the producer of her movie Reddy Diary. Talking about the alleged attack, she says, “They came at around 11.30pm. When I said I didn’t want to meet them in the night, they insisted on talking to me, saying that they stay nearby. But their intention was to attack me and take away my luxury car.”

Ask her whether she could identify her attackers, and she says, “Yes. Mr Subramani, a financier had roped in two goondas to attack me. They entered my house by saying that they wanted to meet me, since I was in Chennai. But later, I realised that it was a planned ploy because I noticed they had switched off the CCTV camera before attacking me.”

She further alleges, “The financier was involved in a scam and was caught by the Telangana police, and jailed for about three months. Some time ago, the Telangana police had enquired about him with me, my manager and Mr Ravidevan, producer of Reddy Diary. We had revealed his whereabouts to the police and irked by the same, he hired people to attack me.”

And what is the issue with her car? “Ravidevan had kept two of his cars parked at the financier’s place, which was later taken back since it involved some bank issue. Subramani was upset over this and he wanted to take away my car.”

She says she did not sustain any major injuries, except for a couple of bruises. But she says that she is yet to come out of the trauma. “I was so scared that for about two hours, I was shivering, and the police, too, came very late. I don’t think I will be able to erase the memories of the incident from my mind anytime soon.”

Ask her about the status of her films, and she says, “Reddy Dairy is in limbo. I’m waiting for a call from Lawrence sir since he has assured me a good role in one of his films. Though he has not roped me in for his Bollywood movie, I expect him to stick to his word and give me a film. I’m doing a movie with Rajendra Prasad in Telugu and one more — a female-centric movie — is in the scripting stage.”

However, Sri Reddy says that she wants to stay here in Chennai and work in

Kollywood

. “There are many people who have suffered sexual exploitation and are coming out and talking about it. I want to be among them and get my issues addressed.”

And about the controversies around her sexual exploitation allegations, she says, “I’m upset that people who talk about it in public are being victimised. Take my case, take the case of Chinmayi — while the perpetrators are roaming around free, we are being victimised for telling the truth. Now, people are blaming me for telling the truth and revealing the names of those who exploited me. People think that money makes a person great. No, money can’t get you character and good behaviour. Rich people are also human beings and they have flaws in characters, too.”
Saying that big actors and industry people are just paying lip-service to this issue of sexual harassment rather than addressing the problem, Sri Reddy says, “Nadigar Sangam didn’t even call me, they didn’t even come forward to hear me out. They say there is a committee. Let them call me and the perpetrators, I’m ready to depose before the committee. Let them hear out both the sides and take a decision. But unfortunately, nothing of that sort is happening.”
With a laugh, she concludes, “I was about to reach out to the Pollachi victims and raise my voice against the culprits, but see my plight now, I have become a victim again!”