Kamal Haasan
| Photo Credit: Johan Sathya Das

Actor and politician Kamal Haasan has ignited a political firestorm with his recent statement claiming that the Kannada language “was born out of Tamil.” The remark, made during the audio launch of his upcoming film Thug Life in Chennai, has drawn fierce backlash in Karnataka, particularly from the BJP and pro-Kannada groups who demanded an immediate and unconditional apology.

While sharing the stage with Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, Haasan opened his speech with “Uyire Urave Tamizhe” (“My life, and my family, is in Tamil language”), before making the now-controversial remark: “Your language (Kannada) was born out of Tamil, so you too are included.” Intended perhaps as a gesture of cultural unity, the comment has since instead stirred accusations of linguistic arrogance and disrespect.

Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra condemned Haasan’s remarks as “uncultured” and “insulting” to Kannada and its 6.5 crore speakers. “It is the height of arrogance that Kamal Haasan, who has acted in many Indian languages including Kannada, has insulted Kannada in the name of glorifying Tamil,” Vijayendra wrote on social media platform X. He also questioned Haasan’s authority to speak on the linguistic origins of Kannada, saying, “He [Kamal Haasan] is not a historian.”

The BJP leader also accused Haasan of repeatedly hurting religious and cultural sentiments, stating, “Kamal Haasan, who is supposed to bring harmony to South India, has been continuously insulting Hinduism and hurting religious sentiments for the past few years. Now, he has insulted Kannada by hurting the self-respect of 6.5 crore Kannadigas.”

Pro-Kannada groups have also joined the protest. Activists from the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike tore down posters of Thug Life in Bengaluru and issued threats of a statewide ban on the film, set to release on June 5. “You want to do business in Karnataka and show your movies, stop insulting Kannada and Kannadigas,” warned Praveen Shetty, president of the outfit.

With a documented history stretching back over 2,500 years, Kannada is one of the oldest surviving Dravidian languages that is distinct from Tamil, not a derivative of it. Both languages share ancient roots in the broader Dravidian family, but evolved independently with their own scripts, grammar, and literary traditions.