Ajay Devgn took to Twitter and asked the actor why Kannada movies are dubbed in Hindi.
Hindi was, is, and will always be our mother tongue and national language, Hindi film actor Ajay Devgn said today while responding to a Kannada actor who pointed out at a recent event that Hindi is not the national language.
Sudeep Sanjeev, known mononymously as Sudeep, was reportedly speaking to the media at the trailer launch of the film "R: The Deadliest Gangster Ever" when he corrected someone on the use of the term "pan-India" regarding the reach of movies.
Responding to a comment on the recently released blockbuster Kannada movie "K.G.F: Chapter 2", which has done tremendously well even in North India, Mr Sudeep said, "everyone says that a Kannada film was made on a pan-India level but a small correction is that Hindi is not a national language anymore".
Taking a dig at the Hindi film industry, he added that Bollywood produces many pan-India movies that are released in Telugu and Tamil but struggle to find success on the same scale.
"Today we are making films that are going everywhere," he said.
Reacting to the comment, Ajay Devgn tagged the Kannada actor on Twitter and asked him why he releases Hindi dubbed versions of movies made in his mother tongue.
"@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," he tweeted in Hindi.
Mr Sudeep then responded to Mr Devgn's counter, claiming he made the remark in a different context than how it reached him, and that it wasn't to "hurt, provoke or to start any debate". Making amends in the next tweet, the Kannada actor said he "loves and respects" every language of our country and said he hopes to see him soon.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, reacted strongly to Ajay Devgn's tweet. "Hindi was never and will never be our National Language. It is the duty of every Indian to respect linguistic diversity of our country," he said.
Several movies from south India have recently seen unprecedented success at the box office not just in the south, but all across the country leading to a lot of debate on why Hindi language movies aren't as successful in the south of the country.
Ajay Devgn is among a few other actors in the Hindi film industry who now regularly feature in movies that evoke nationalism and patriotism. He has in the past campaigned for the ruling BJP in Bihar and has also supported PM Modi's decisions, including the controversial demonetisation move.
The debate on Hindi imposition exploded again after Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that Hindi, and not local languages, should be accepted as an alternative to English. Opposition parties slammed the remark, calling it an assault on India's pluralism and asserting they will thwart the move to impose "Hindi imperialism".