'Don't Forget That Your First Film...' K'taka Parties Unite Against Actor Ajay Devgn Over Hindi Row

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai has come out in favour of Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep, a day after a debate arose over the national language following a Twitter fight between Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn and him.

“Our states were formed because of languages. Regional languages have been given importance. Sudeep’s statement is right and everyone should respect that,” Bommai said.

His statement came after former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah responded to the Twitter conversation between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Sudeep by saying that Hindi was never and will never be India’s national language, which was the main point of contention in the exchange. “I am proud to be a Kannadiga,”  the former chief minister stated, adding that it is every Indian’s responsibility to appreciate the country’s linguistic variety.  “Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of,” Siddaramaiah said.

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar too weighed in on the debate, and said, “There are 19,500 mother tongues spoken in India. Our love for India feels the same in every language.”

“As a proud Kannadiga and a proud Congressman let me remind everyone that Congress created linguistic states so that no one language dominates another. #UnityInDiversity,” DKS said in a post on Twitter.

Sudeep sparked the debate when he responded to a question about KGF 2 being labeled a pan-India film. He claimed that Hindi is no longer a national language and that Bollywood should claim to be making films for the entire country (by dubbing their films in other languages).

Ajay Devgn reacted to this by asking why Kannada films are being dubbed in Hindi if Hindi is not the national language. “@KicchaSudeep my brother, according to you if Hindi is not our National Language, then why do you dub your mother tongue movies in Hindi and release them? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man,” Ajay Devgn said in a tweet in Hindi.

Sudeep responded to Ajay Devgn’s Hindi tweet by saying that what he meant was absolutely different and that it was expressed in a completely different context.  “Hello @ajaydevgn sir.. the context to why I said tat line is entirely different to the way I guess it has reached you. Probably wil emphasis on why the statement was made when I see you in person. It wasn’t to hurt,Provoke or to start any debate. Why would I sir. I love and respect every language of our country sir. I would want this topic to rest,,, as I said the line in a totally different context. Mch luv and wshs to you always. Hoping to seeing you soon,” Sudeep said in a tweet.

After Ajay Devgn stated that he has always thought of the film industry as one and that something may have been lost in translation, the ‘row’ was put to rest. Sudeep noted that translations and translations are viewpoints, and that if he had received a tweet from Ajay Devgn for “a creative reason,” he would have been thrilled.

Former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy also posted a long Twitter thread on his opinions on the row, saying there was nothing in Sudeep’s statement to find fault with.

“Actor @KicchaSudeep saying that Hindi is not a National Language is correct. There is nothing to find fault in his statement. Actor @ajaydevgn is not only hyper in nature but also shows his ludicrous behaviour,” he said.

“Just because a large population speaks Hindi, it doesn’t become a National Language. Less than 9 States, Kashmir-Kanyakumari, have Hindi as 2nd, 3rd language or not even that. This being situation what is the truth in Ajay Devgan’s statement? What do you mean by not to dub?,” he further said.

He added that Devgan must realise that Kannada cinema is outgrowing Hindi film industry. “Because of encouragement by Kannadigas Hindi cinema has grown. Devgan shouldn’t forget that his first movie ‘Phool aur Kaante’ ran for a year in Bengaluru,” he said.

Meanwhile, Omar Abdullah also weighed in on the row, saying the idea of India was that it gave space to all. “Even indian currency has many languages. We should respect all languages. Let people select..why pick one national language,” he said.

Read all the Latest Politics News here