Kamal Haasan slammed for saying Kannada was born out of Tamil comment

Kamal Haasan recently garnered severe criticism for his comment at a promotional event of his film Thug Life in Chennai. At the audio launch of the movie, he said that the “Kannada language was born out of Tamil” and this remark has drawn severe criticism for pro-Kannada groups.

At the event, Kamal Hassan   began his speech by saying, “Uyire Urave Tamizhe”, meaning “my life and my family is Tamil language”. He went on to add, “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.”

ಮಾತೃಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸಬೇಕು, ಆದರೆ ಅದರ ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ದುರಭಿಮಾನ ಮೆರೆಯುವುದು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಹೀನ ನಡವಳಿಕೆಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಕಲಾವಿದರಿಗೆ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನೂ ಗೌರವಿಸುವ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ ಇರಬೇಕು. ಕನ್ನಡವೂ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಅನೇಕ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಟಿಸಿರುವ ನಟ @ikamalhaasan ತಮ್ಮ ತಮಿಳು ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು ವೈಭವಿಕರಿಸುವ ಮತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಟ… pic.twitter.com/PrfKX099lZ

— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) May 27, 2025

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This comment garnered severe criticism from pro-Kannada groups as Praveen Shetty, the leader of Kannada Rakshana Vedike said, “Kamal Haasan said Tamil is better than Kannada and Kannada only after Tamil was born. We are warning Kamal, you need business in Karnataka? And yet insulting Kannada.”

He added, “Today you were here in the state and we were ready to apply black ink to you and you’ve run away. We warn you, if you talk against Karnataka and people of state, there’ll be protests against you. We warn you, your movie will be banned in Karnataka.”

It is said that pro-Kannada groups’ activists had gathered at a venue in Bangalore where the actor was reportedly scheduled to appear for his film’s promotion to throw black ink at him marking their protest. However, they later claimed that Haasan came to know about their plan and left the spot.

BJP Karnataka State President BY Vijayendra also slammed the actor on X calling his comments on Kannada “uncultured behaviour” and “the height of arrogance.” He also demanded an unconditional apology from Haasan.