Senior Kannada actor Shiva Rajkumar has found himself at the centre of a controversy for saying “Hindi is the national language”. Facing widespread criticism, the actor has now expressed regret and apologised for his statement.
Shiva’s remarks on language during the title launch and press conference of his upcoming multilingual film Original Monster sparked a major debate on social media. Directed by R Chandru, the film is also set to be released in Hindi.
What did Shiva Rajkumar say?
During the press conference, Shiva was asked whether he would dub the film in Hindi. Responding to the question, he said that Hindi had been his second language during his college days and that he could speak the language.
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“What is so difficult about it? It is an easy language, our national language. How can we not know it?” he said.
His reference to Hindi as the “national language” quickly went viral on social media and triggered a controversy. Netizens pointed out that the Constitution does not recognise any particular language as India’s national language. Many felt that the actor’s remark had hurt the linguistic identity and sentiments of Kannadigas.
Shiva Rajkumar’s clarification
As the criticism intensified, there were demands for Shiva to apologise. Responding to the controversy, he clarified that he had not intended to describe Hindi as the national language in the constitutional sense.
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“I did not refer to Hindi as the national language in the constitutional sense. I used those words spontaneously in the general sense of a language that is widely spoken across the country. While trying to say that Hindi is just one among the many Indian languages, I inadvertently used the term ‘national language’ in the confusion. I apologise for that. Kannada is our first priority. I had no intention of supporting the imposition of any language,” he said.
A family with a history of standing up for Kannada
Shiva’s father and legendary Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar had earlier participated in the Gokak movement and stood firmly with Kannadigas. Since then, the Rajkumar family has remained at the forefront of movements concerning Kannada and Karnataka.
Shiva’s recent remarks on Hindi therefore came as a surprise to many of his fans. At the same time, there has also been appreciation for the actor for admitting his mistake and apologising rather than allowing the controversy to escalate. Many have described it as a reflection of his humility and magnanimity.
Shivanna's earlier stand on Hindi
Shiva had not previously been caught up in any controversy specifically related to the Hindi language. However, his views have come up during debates over language imposition and the linguistic tensions between the North and South Indian film industries.
In 2022, a Twitter (now X) war broke out between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and actor Kiccha Sudeep over whether Hindi was the “national language” of India. When the media sought Shiva’s reaction at the time, he responded with considerable restraint.
“Kannada is important to us and will always come first. Everyone respects their own language. All languages in India should be respected. But in Karnataka, Kannada is supreme,” he had said, making his support for Kannada linguistic identity clear.
Similarly, during discussions surrounding Jailer and the dubbing of multilingual films, Shiva had made his position clear. He said there was nothing wrong with dubbing Kannada films into other languages and releasing them, but Kannada versions should be given priority in Kannada theatres.
The Thug Life controversy
At the audio launch of the Tamil film Thug Lifeactor Kamal Haasan, in the presence of Shiva, made a statement to the effect that the Kannada language had originated from Tamil. He applauded the remark.
The incident also triggered strong protests in Karnataka, eventually leading to restrictions on the release of Thug Life in the state.
(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka)