Last month, Kannada actor Kiccha Sudeep sparked a debate in the industry about Hindi being the national language, which was followed by a social media back-and-forth that he’d engaged in with actor Ajay Devgn. In his recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, the Makkhi actor shared that he wanted to clear his point, that it wasn’t about ego’ and stressed that he was always respectful in his comments.
The debate began after Ajay Devgn clapped back at Kiccha Sudeep’s comment about Hindi not being India’s national language. The Runway 34 actor took to Twitter and reached out to the Kannada actor with a message written in Hindi. He asked Sudeep that if he feels Hindi is not our national language, then why does he release his movies in Hindi. Ajay emphasizes that Hindi always has been and will continue to be our national language. At the time, many people pointed out that India doesn’t have a national language.
While speaking with the entertainment portal, Kiccha said, “Ajay sir and me are two individuals who have seen the industry. He’s seen more than me. We are grown-ups, we understand what is what. We were talking about black and white, and we didn’t want to settle with the grey. A lot of people took the topic, but nobody tagged us. They just wanted the topic, and they took it politically all over the place. And that is a zone where we both don’t belong.”
He added, “He had a question to me, and I respected that, and I wanted to answer. Though that came in Hindi… I understood Hindi, but I responded in English so that everybody understands what I was trying to say. Of course, Ajay sir got a different interpretation of the whole thing, but that’s fair enough. But I also had to make a point, the point being that… It wasn’t about ego. If I wanted to provoke or be arrogant, I would’ve been arrogant from the first tweet. I didn’t have to wait for my third one. But what would have happened if I had sent the text in Kannada? This is a very honest point, which I think even he respected.”
The Sandalwood actor also shared that he didn’t worry when the topic became political and bowed out of any further discussions because he felt that as far as both he and Ajay were concerned, the topic was over. However, Sudeep returned to the topic when PM Narendra Modi commented on the issue. He said that he was talking on behalf of everybody, not just Kannadigas. “I am happy that the topic I started, was ended by the leader of the country,” he concluded.
On the work front, Sudeep is set for his 3D action-adventure film Vikrant Rona, on the other hand, Ajay was last seen in the box office disappointment Runway 34.
