Mind your language: Thug Life star Kamal Haasan courts controversy over ¡®Kannada born from Tamil' remark amid rumoured Rajya Sabha debut

Kamal Haasan on May 27 landed in a controversy when he said ¡®Kannada was born of Tamil¡¯ during the promotions of Thug Life, his film with Mani Ratnam. The statement, which was made in Sandalwood star Shivarajkumar¡¯s presence, comes amid reports of his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), contesting for a Rajya Sabha seat as part of its arrangement with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Thug Life star Kamal Haasan¡¯s remark about Kannada sparks outrage

Kamal Haasan attended the audio launch of his film Thug Life in Chennai and opened up about his bond with Dr Rajkumar¡¯s family. The Hey Ram star began his speech with the words ¡®Uyire Urave Tamizhe¡¯, which translate to ¡®my life and my family is the Tamil language¡¯. He then reflected on his bond with Shivarajkumar, Annavru¡¯s son and a matinee idol in his own right, saying that he is ¡®family in another state¡¯.

¡°Actor Shivarajkumar is my family living in another state. That's why he is here. That's why when I started my speech, I said ¡®my life and my family is Tamil¡¯. Your language (Kannada) was born out of Tamil. So you are included in that line.¡± he said.

His comment upset pro-Kannada activists who tore down Thug Life¡¯s posters.

????????????? ???????????, ???? ??? ?????????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ??? ????????????????. ??????? ?????????? ?????????? ????????? ???????? ??????? ??????. ??????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ?? @ikamalhaasan ???? ????? ????????? ??????????? ?????????? ??¡­ pic.twitter.com/PrfKX099lZ

¡ª Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) May 27, 2025

BJP Karnataka State President BY Vijayendra too slammed for his ¡®uncultured behaviour¡¯.

¡°Artists should embody the culture of respecting all languages, It is appalling that Kamal Haasan, who has worked in several Indian languages including Kannada, has now insulted Kannada,¡± he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter)

According to mainstream linguist studies, Kannada and Tamil are both Dravidian languages. However, both of them developed independently from a common ancestor¨C Proto-Dravidian. The roots of Malayalam and Telugu too can be traced to the same language.

Is Kamal Haasan set to enter the Rajya Sabha?

Meanwhile, MNM has an agreement with the DMK wherein Kamal Haasan¡¯s party will field a candidate on a Rajya Sabha seat. Stalin¡¯s party has already announced the names of its three candidates. They are P Wilson, Salma, and SR Sivalingam. Kamal Haasan is likely to be MNM's candidate.

Interestingly, DMK is no stranger to language rows and has a long history of opposing Hindi. Not too long ago, Stalin had reiterated that his party would ¡®not allow Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu¡¯ through the three-language policy, even though Tamils have ¡®no hatred¡¯ for any language.

Coming back to Thug Life, the action gangster drama features Kamal Haasan as a powerful man who is forced to fight the family he once built. The film also features Simbu, Ali Fazal and Trisha in key roles. Sanya Malhotra has a 'friendly appearance in the film. The Mani Ratnam-helmed flick is set to hit the screens on June 5.

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