Actress Divyabharathi has publicly called out director Naresh Kuppili, who goes by the name Naressh K Lee online, for making rude and sexist comments about her. She was also disappointed that her GOAT co-star Sudigali Sudheer didn't speak out in her favour.
The fight started on Wednesday when Divyabharathi posted a screenshot on X (formerly Twitter) of Naresh calling her "chilaka," which means "bird" in Hindi but is often used in a disrespectful way toward women. He also said that she "deserved" to be cast as a second lead.
The actor wrote that this kind of language is not just harmless teasing but shows "deep-seated misogyny." She said that the director acted in a similar way on the sets of GOAT, using disrespectful language toward women over and over again and ruining the creative atmosphere.
Divyabharathi also said in her statement that she was upset with Sudigali Sudheer because his silence allowed the toxic culture to continue.
She wrote, "What disappointed me most was seeing the hero stay silent, letting this culture live on for another day." She also said that she now only works in places where women are treated with respect. Later, she shared the note again on Instagram Stories, asking for respect and responsibility at work.
Actor Responds to Trolls and People Who Support Naresh
When some people said she had "issues with everyone," Divyabharathi said that she has worked on many Tamil cinema projects without any problems.
"Only this one director went too far and said things that were rude," she wrote. "He made it public, so I have every right to respond."
She also talked to people who were defending the director and said again that normalizing this kind of behavior hurts the whole industry.
Also read: Who is Divyabharathi and why is she being connected to GV Prakash's divorce?
On the work front with Divyabharathi
Before becoming famous for her role in the 2021 Tamil film Bachelor, opposite GV Prakash, Divyabharathi worked as a model. She was also in Maharaja (2024) and worked with Prakash again on Kingston earlier this year. GOAT is her first movie in Telugu. The Tamil movie Madhil Mel Kaadha and the JioHotstar web series Lingam are two of her next projects.
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