The Twitter exchange between actors Ajay Devgn and Kiccha Sudeep over India’s national language has snowballed into a massive controversy and attracted reactions from fans, film personalities and politicians.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has also jumped into the debate and claimed that stars from north India are “insecure and jealous” of their counterparts from the south.
“The base undeniable ground truth @KicchaSudeep sir, is that the north stars are insecure and jealous of the south stars because a Kannada dubbing film #KGF2 had a 50 crore opening day and we all are going to see the coming opening days of Hindi films (sic),” Varma tweeted.
The base undeniable ground truth @KicchaSudeep sir ,is that the north stars are insecure and jealous of the south stars because a Kannada dubbing film #KGF2 had a 50 crore opening day and we all are going to see the coming opening days of Hindi films
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 27, 2022
“Whether u intended or not am glad u made this statement ,because unless there’s a strong stir , there cannot be a calm especially at a time when there seems to be a war like situation between Bolly(north)wood and Sandal(South) wood (sic),” he added in another tweet.
Whether u intended or not am glad u made this statement ,because unless there’s a strong stir , there cannot be a calm especially at a time when there seems to be a war like situation between Bolly(north)wood and Sandal(South) wood https://t.co/SXPqvrU8OV
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 27, 2022
Further he dubbed the ongoing debate as Ajay Devgn versus Kiccha Sudeep and said, “Like the PROOF of the PUDDING is in the eating , the runway 34 collections will prove how much GOLD (kgf2) is there in HINDI versus KANNADA .. @ajaydevgn versus @KicchaSudeep (sic).”
Like the PROOF of the PUDDING is in the eating , the runway 34 collections will prove how much GOLD (kgf2) is there in HINDI versus KANNADA .. @ajaydevgn versus @KicchaSudeep
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) April 27, 2022
Varma was referring to Devgn’s Runway 34 Bollywood film which is set to release this week.
It all started when Sudeep, during a function in Bengaluru where the who’s who of the Kannada film industry celebrated the nationwide success of KGF-2 starring Yash, said Hindi is no more a national language.
Reacting to Sudeep’s statement, Devgn tweeted, “@KicchaSudeep my brother, According to you if Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your mother tongue movies by dubbing them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man (sic).”
.@KicchaSudeep मेरे भाई,
आपके अनुसार अगर हिंदी हमारी राष्ट्रीय भाषा नहीं है तो आप अपनी मातृभाषा की फ़िल्मों को हिंदी में डब करके क्यूँ रिलीज़ करते हैं?
हिंदी हमारी मातृभाषा और राष्ट्रीय भाषा थी, है और हमेशा रहेगी।
जन गण मन ।— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) April 27, 2022
After this, there were a few more tweets exchanged between the duo. Later, it garnered a lot of attention on social media.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah tweeted in response to Devgn, “Hindi was never & will never be our National Language. It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our Country. Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of. I am proud to be a Kannadiga!!”
Hindi was never & will never be our National Language.
It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our Country.
Each language has its own rich history for its people to be proud of.
I am proud to be a Kannadiga!! https://t.co/SmT2gsfkgO
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 27, 2022
Another ex-CM of the state, H D Kumaraswamy hit out at Devgn, calling him “BJP’s mouthpiece”. He tweeted, “Ajay Devgn blabbered as a mouthpiece of BJP’s Hindi Nationalism of one nation, one tax, one language & one government.”
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. 1/7
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) April 28, 2022
Ajaya Devgan’s blabbered as a mouth piece of BJP’s Hindi Nationalism of one nation, one tax, one language & one government. 5/7
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) April 28, 2022
Karnataka CM and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai supported Sudeep and said, “Our states were formed because of languages. Regional languages have been given importance. Sudeep’s statement is right and everyone should respect that.”