By
Siddharth Muralidharan
On March 13 2026 , lyricist and poet-novelist Vairamuthu was named for the Jnanpith Award, becoming only the third Tamil literary figure to receive it and the first in 24 years. The previous Tamil recipients were novelists Akilan in 1975 and Jayakanthan in 2002.
The announcement was met with two responses. It drew kudos from the political and cultural establishment, but from literary circles and from women who have accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment, there was an uproar. Seven years after charges of sexual predation and threats were made against the lyricist, starting from the #MeToo movement of 2018, no formal action has yet been taken against him, with the women left on their own to manage the consequences of naming him. Added to these grave charges are criticisms of his poetic ability raised by eminent figures in Tamil literature.
Born in 1953 in Theni district, Vairamuthu entered Tamil cinema in 1980 when director Bharathiraja signed him for Nizhalgal after reading his poetry. He has written over 7,500 songs across more than four decades, working with directors K. Balachander, Mani Ratnam, and Shankar, and composers Ilaiyaraaja and A.R. Rahman. He has won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics seven times. He has published more than 40 books—poetry collections, essays, and novels—including Kallikattu Ithikasam, which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2003. He was given the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan as well.
Speaking to Frontline, Vairamuthu said: “Writers Akilan and Jayakanthan have received the Jnanpith award. Even though they are great writers, we must not forget that they are prose writers. The Jnanpith has, for the first time, been given to a Tamil poet. It brings pride to Tamil poetry more than to me.” He added: “I have no shame or hesitation in saying that I had a fascination for this award. The Jnanpith is a dream for every writer. There is no disgrace that I too had that dream.”
When Frontline asked Vairamuthu about the sexual misconduct allegations against him, he said, “I am avoiding this question.”
Seventeen women, no action
In October 2018, singer and dubbing artist Chinmayi Sripaada publicly accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment. She alleged that during a cultural programme in Lucerne, Switzerland, a co-organiser asked her to visit Vairamuthu’s hotel room and warned her that her career would be finished if she refused. She said the incident occurred in 2005 or 2006. After her statement, at least 16 other women made similar allegations. Vairamuthu called all the allegations false and motivated.
Chinmayi’s decision to speak out cost her work. The South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union cancelled her membership. Although a court later granted a stay, she has continued to face an effective shadow ban in the Tamil film industry, particularly in dubbing.
Chinmayi and light music singer Bhuvana Seshan separately filed complaints with the National Commission for Women in 2018-19, because the existing law did not allow them to register a police case, but to no avail. Seshan alleged in 2023 that Vairamuthu had told her he had the power to make or break her career when she declined to travel with him to Malaysia for an event in the late 1990s.
“Why aren’t the safeguards of an Internal Complaints Committee and POCSO units in place in an industry which actively hires and works with minors and children?” Chinmayi asked Frontline. “Even if you do not accept my charge and I’m not your perfect victim, what is your response to the other 16 women?”
When the ONV Cultural Academy in Kerala announced Vairamuthu as the recipient of its literary prize in 2021, the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), led by actors Parvathy Thiruvothu and Geetu Mohandas, as well as Chinmayi raised objections. The academy said it would review its decision, forcing Vairamuthu to decline the honour rather than have it withdrawn.
The Tamil film industry has no initiative like the WCC. Ironically, in September 2024, when asked about Kerala’s Hema Committee report on sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, Vairamuthu had said its investigative model should be applied in all States to protect women.
Political connections
Supporters of the Dravidian movement and the DMK have consistently backed Vairamuthu, particularly after Hindu right-wing groups turned on him in 2018 after his remarks about the Vaishnavite saint Andal. His closeness to the late Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is widely acknowledged. In 2024, Chief Minister Stalin released Vairamuthu’s poetry collection Maha Kavithai and asked him to write Karunanidhi’s biography in verse.
However, literary critic and journalist Suguna Diwakar told Frontline that Vairamuthu’s writing did not carry the ideological character of the Dravidian movement. “In a song in the Tamil film Patti Sollai Thattathe (1988), he invoked Periyar but that is the only place he has invoked the leader. Songs of lyricists like Arivumathi and Ilavenil carried support for the movement and its characteristics, but the same cannot be said for Vairamuthu’s songs.”
Diwakar also noted that when the Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman made remarks critical of the Dravidian movement and Periyar, Vairamuthu did not respond. “He simply walked away when this question was raised in a press interaction.”
Vairamuthu’s political associations are not limited to Dravidian circles. In 2017, he took part in the launch of a Tamil translation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poetry, received the volume from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and said that Modi had the power to resolve the country’s problems through his poetry—a remark that drew sharp criticism. He has also expressed public admiration for Sitharaman and the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Literary merit
The Jnanpith Award was set up in 1961 by Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust, a private literary organisation created by the Sahu Jain family, which owns Bennett, Coleman & Co, the owners of the Times of India newspaper. It is widely considered one of India’s highest literary honours and was first awarded in 1965.
The decision to recognise Vairamuthu has returned old questions to public debate: What counts as literary achievement? Who gets to decide it?
Writer B. Jeyamohan wrote to the Jnanpith Committee to oppose the choice, calling Vairamuthu “a ridiculous Tamil film lyricist” who “plays no part at all in contemporary Tamil literature”. Talking to Frontline, Jeyamohan said Vairamuthu excessively romanticises rural life and relies on rhetorical flourishes. “While there is no doubt that he is an expert in using words, his frequent emphasis on sexual themes in his songs must be noted,” he said.
Vairamuthu’s lyrics have been criticised by others as well for objectifying the female body and for often crossing over from the sensual to the vulgar.
A Tamil lyricist, who requested not to be named, said that while some might regard Vairamuthu’s works such as Kallikattu Ithikasam and Karuvachchi Kaviyam as being rooted in rural life, a comparison with novels and stories by Poomani, Ki. Rajanarayanan, Imayam, and Perumal Murugan suggests otherwise.
Writer and translator Suchitra posted on X: “Vairamuthu, though, would not feature in any list of any serious reader. That’s what makes this choice execrable. It’s as if Rupi Kaur was awarded the Nobel Prize.”
Multiple Tamil writers said that while Vairamuthu’s contributions as a lyricist are notable, his literary output does not match the work of writers such as Ki. Rajanarayanan, Thi. Janakiraman, Sundara Ramasamy, Nanjil Nadan, Prabanjan, Azhagiya Periyavan, and S. Ramakrishnan.
The writers pointed out that a Jnanpith winner’s work comes to represent modern Tamil literature nationally, and when it is awarded to undeserving works, it risks eclipsing writers whose writing carries greater depth.
Tamil literature, one of India’s oldest living literary traditions, has received only three Jnanpith Awards in the prize’s six-decade history.
Chief Minister Stalin said in a post on X that Vairamuthu had mastered both classical and modern poetry and that Karunanidhi, if alive, would have praised him lavishly.
The DMK’s continuing patronage of Vairamuthu is reportedly driven by the Mukkulathor vote bank, to which community the lyricist belongs. Even the Jnanpith award is considered by some to have been manipulated by the BJP, the ruling party at the Centre, in order to make inroads into this vote bank in the upcoming Assembly election.
The Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association has not issued a statement so far while the CPI(M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi have congratulated Vairamuthu.
The Jnanpith Committee has not thus far responded to Jeyamohan’s letter or to the criticism.
‘The evidence is never enough’: Singer Chinmayi
Singer Chinmayi Sripaada first named Vairamuthu as a sexual harasser in October 2018. She spoke to Frontline about what the years since have cost her—and what the absence of institutional accountability has meant for others in the industry.
“From 2018 to now, I have been running to the court just because I was banned from my right to work after I called out a molester. What example are they setting? Thankfully my parents, in-laws, and husband were supportive through this process. What about those who don’t have these privileges?
From the BJP to the DMK, from the far right to the far left, all of them have one singular question for me: “Why did you invite Vairamuthu to your wedding?” It’s unbelievable how this one thing unites all these people—atheists, theists, Sanatanists, Communists. They are all united in shaming survivors who speak up.
So many people are banned from the industry for speaking out. When senior actors-cum-politicians take no note of this, how will they govern the country? None of them are leading by example—by removing a sex offender or taking disciplinary action.
My entire 30s has been spent in courts—supposedly the prime of my youth, especially after a blockbuster like the film 96. Two things I find particularly disturbing. Despite my large discography, in multiple languages and multiple awards, they do not believe me. What if I didn’t have this body of work? Seventeen women have spoken so far, and the evidence is still not enough. I have the advantage of being one of 17. What if I had been the only one?” They say I am not the “perfect victim”. In 2018, a Tamil publication even said I was fielded by the BJP.
If I ask a question to the Chief Minister, DMK loyalists come out in hordes to abuse me on social media. As a woman who votes, and as a citizen of Tamil Nadu, who can I question? I asked the same of the previous Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami. These past eight years have left me with more questions than answers. When will systems be in place? Men continue to hold all positions of power, money, and clout.
If a woman is called a slut, everybody readily believes it. But the moment a woman says she was sexually assaulted by a man they want a mounting body of evidence. Even then, the evidence is never enough.”
As told to Siddarth Muralidharan
Courtesy:FRONTLINE