Ajay Devgn-Kichcha Sudeepa Twitter war: What film personalities and politicians said about the 'national language' debate

Kannada film ‘KGF 2’ has been ruling the box office across the country and lauding the film’s success, actor Kichcha Sudeepa recently made a statement that has landed him in a controversy. "Someone said that a pan India film (‘KGF 2’) was made in Kannada. I'd like to make a small correction. Hindi is no more a national language. They (Bollywood) are doing pan-India films today. They are struggling by dubbing in Telugu and Tamil, but it's (the success) not happening. Today we are making films that are going everywhere," he said at an event. Reacting to the statement, Ajay 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."

This Twitter exchange sparked a controversy with several influential personalities too sharing their opinions. Check out:

Pic: Twitter

Responding to Ajay Devgn, Kichcha wrote, "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 ��" He further added, "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. ������������" In another tweet, he wrote, "Translation & interpretations are perspectives sir. Tats the reason not reacting wothout knowing the complete matter,,,matters.:) I don't blame you @ajaydevgn sir. Perhaps it would have been a happy moment if i had received a tweet from u for a creative reason. Luv&Regards❤️"

Pic: Twitter

Sonu Sood, who has worked in both Hindi and South film industries, spoke to a news portal an said that he doesn’t think Hindi can be called just the national language. According to him, India has one language, which is entertainment. The actor also added that it doesn’t really matter which industry you belong to. If you entertain people, they will love you, honour you and accept you. Elaborating further, Sonu told Indian Express that the success of South films will change the way Hindi films will be made.

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In conversation with Times Now, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui too weighed in on the language debate and stated that Hindi should be given more respect in the industry. He said, "The script that we receive comes in Roman, it's very difficult to memorise. So I request for a script in Devnagri. Also even while making a Hindi film, the directors, assistants... they are all talking in English. It affects the performance of an actor. In South, they speak in their native language, and they feel proud about it."

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Speaking to ETimes, Ram Gopal Varma, who has had a prolific career in both Hindi and Telugu films, said, "I honestly think Kannada super star Sudeepa has driven an incredible point when he said, what if he answers in Kannada to a Hindi tweet from Ajay Devgn, which should force everyone to realise that there’s no North and South and India is just one, which the North based Ajay doesn’t seem to understand and the South based Sudeepa seems to, full on." In his tweet, RGV wrote, "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"

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In response to Ajay Devgn's tweet, Kannada actress Divya Spandana tweeted, "No- Hindi is not our national language. @ajaydevgn Your ignorance is baffling. And it’s great that films like KGF Pushpa and RRR have done so well in the Hindi belt- art has no language barrier. Please enjoy our films as much as we enjoy yours- #stopHindiImposition"

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Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah reacted to the Twitter exchange and said that Hindi was never and will never be India's National Language. "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!!" he wrote on Twitter.

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Former chief minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy shared a series of tweets commenting on this debate. "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. Like Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam & Marathi, Hindi is also one of languages. India is a garden of several languages. Land of multi cultures. Let there be no attempts to disrupt this. 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 From the beginnig, ‘Hindi’ based political parties in the Centre have been making efforts to destroy regional languages. Congress which started surprising regional languages is being continued by the BJP. Ajaya Devgan’s blabbered as a mouth piece of BJP’s Hindi Nationalism of one nation, one tax, one language & one government. 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. An addiction for primacy is dividing the country. A seed sown by the BJP has become contagious dividing the nation. This is a threat to India’s unity. #stopHindiImposition"

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South actress Madhoo opines art doesn't require a language and we need a common language. Speaking to India Today, she said, "It saddens me that Hindi is optional because politically it takes away the tool of connecting human beings. We have to unite and languages are being used to divide. Everyone is trying to adapt to one language that will be understood by all. Just to make it easy for everyone to learn one language to connect with us. Even in the movie like Roja, a South Indian girl goes to Punjab and is unable to communicate. That way, it is a barrier of connection between human minds."

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Ghazal singer Anup Jalota opines we are merely wasting our time having this discussion. "Mahatma Gandhi used to converse in Hindi. Most of India understand the language Hindi. We are totally wasting our time having this discussion. South Indian languages are respected. In fact even Bihari and Punjabi are respected. But people don't understand every language. South Indian films are dubbed in Hindi so that people can understand. Our Hindi is understood by everyone. If a South Indian film is dubbed in Hindi, it will reach every corner of India," he said while speaking to India Today.

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After Kichcha Sudeepa's tweet, Ajay responded to him saying, "Hi @KicchaSudeep, You are a friend. thanks for clearing up the misunderstanding. I’ve always thought of the film industry as one. We respect all languages and we expect everyone to respect our language as well. Perhaps, something was lost in translation ��"

Pic: Twitter