VJ-actor Ramya Subramanian called out for being classist after her Leo’s Naa Ready dance cover goes viral

Ramya Subramanian shared a video of her performing Bharatanatyam with her friends to Naa Ready song from Leo. She received backlash for saying that she is 'classi-fying' a kuthu number.

Ramya Subramaniam Instagram post

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VJ Ramya Subramanian, who has also acted in films like Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani and Vijay’s Master, is receiving backlash on Twitter for her recent tweet. Ramya shared her dance cover of Naa Ready song from Vijay’s upcoming film Leo. Along with two of her friends, Ramya performed Bharatanatyam and fused it with the steps from the song. Though the performance was appreciated by many in the comments, her caption rubbed many the wrong way.

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Ramya’s tweet read, “This is what you get when we ‘classi-fy’ a kuthu number!!!” Many called out the tweet to be casteist and classist as it belittles Dappankuthu aka Kuthu, a folk dance and music style of Tamil Nadu. Unlike other dance forms, Kuththu, which is inspired by other folk styles like Kummi, doesn’t have a structure. It is a people’s art and is performed at weddings and deaths in Tamil Nadu. The style was first popularised by Ilaiyaraaja in his songs. Later, it became a pop-culture phenomenon, accepted by all dancers, actors, and musicians of Tamil Nadu.

Many on Twitter asked whether Ramya considers Kuthu to be ‘low class’ and Bharatanatyam ‘high class’. A Twitter shared her tweet and wrote, “There’s nothing unclassy about kuthu. You should rather “classi-fy” your uncouth elitist attitude.” “When inherent casteism comes out in unexpected ways, you class-ify and cast(e)igate other art forms… Enough done already. Unlearn casteism and learn to respect every art form (sic),” wrote another.

Even if this was unintentional, even if she did not mean to “classify kuththu”, it really doesn’t matter here..because oppressors have always gotten away with being ignorant and being casteist casually, that itself is a privilege they have enjoyed for centuries. https://t.co/OdcC8e14a3

— HeiZenberg (@urgoddamnryt) July 11, 2023

Are you trying to say Bharatanatyam is a class apart from kuthu? https://t.co/TsV3nBILvk

— Tennyson Stephen (@TennysonStephe6) July 11, 2023

After the backlash, Ramya put out a quote, which read, “Make peace with the fact that people hold different versions of you in their mind. Ultimately, who you know yourself to be is what matters the most.”

Ramya Subramanian was last seen in a small role in the Telugu film Anni Manchi Sakunamule. Ramya, who is also a powerlifter, recently published a book on health and fitness titled, Stop Weighting.

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