Pravasthi Aaradhya, a 19-year-old singer, recently leveled allegations of harassment, bias, and body shaming against the judges and production team of the Padutha Theeyaga Silver Jubilee edition. In response, judge Sunitha Upadrashta released a video on social media firmly refuting the accusations and presenting her side of the story.
Playback singer Sunitha has spoken out in response to harassment allegations made by aspiring singer Pravasthi Aradhya via a video released on April 22 on Instagram.
She pointed out that Pravasthi, who was recently eliminated from the music reality show Padutha Teeyaga, has been active in the music scene since childhood. Sunitha also underscored the need for emotional strength and perseverance when dealing with disappointments.
In the video clip, Sunitha began saying in Telugu, "Pravasthi when you started singing during your early years, when you were young, you used to sit on our laps and we used to appreciate your singing. But now that you are 19 years old and grown up, there is a way in which we should applaud your performance."
"You have participated not only in this reality show but several other shows as well. So you must be knowing the song selection and participant selection process in these shows. Pravasthi is well aware that songs are chosen based on broadcasting rights. If the channel doesn’t hold the rights to a song, it simply can’t be aired. That’s the only reason behind the selection or exclusion of songs — there’s no hidden motive," she continued in the video.
She also urged Pravasthi to disclose the entire truth and not just speak about the partial truth. Sunitha also said, "Youngsters today need to learn to accept failure."
Sunitha expressed her disappointment over Pravasthi’s claims that she had celebrated with others following the latter’s elimination. She said she couldn’t understand why Pravasthi would make such an allegation, adding that it was both surprising and disheartening to hear.
For those unversed, Pravasthi, who previously won Super Singer on Star Maa in 2024, said in a social media video that she joined Padutha Teeyaga this year in an attempt to increase her visibility. She felt that the atmosphere had changed significantly from her previous experiences on the show, which was hosted by the late SP Balasubrahmanyam.
She claimed that Sunitha had even downgraded her skills to Keeravaani and frequently looked visibly uneasy when performing on stage. According to Pravasthi, Sunitha was not aware of the comments, but she overheard them during one such incident while wearing her earpiece. Pravasthi disclosed that her mental health had suffered as a result of these experiences.
In the same video, she also mentioned lyricist Chandrabose and MM Keeravaani for their changed behaviour towards her on the show.
Gnapika Entertainments, the production house responsible for Padutha Theeyaga, has also addressed Pravasthi's allegations by releasing a video statement. In the video, the team outlined the show's format, explaining how songs are assigned to participants and how performances are evaluated through a structured marking system, with eliminations taking place every four episodes. They further stated in the video that the makers never instructed Pravasthi to wear certain clothes or behave in such a way and refused all the claims of body shaming as mentioned in her claims.
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