Kamal Haasan's 'Kannada Born Out Of Tamil' Statement Angers Netizens, They Call For A Ban On Thug Life's Release In Karnataka

Kamal Haasan, who is gearing up for the release of his next film Thug Life, is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The veteran actor, on Sunday, during the audio launch, compared Tamil and Kannada languages and said that the latter emerged from Tamil. This didn't go down well with the Kannadigans, and now they are calling for a ban on the release of Thug Life in Karnataka.

What did Kamal Haasan say at Thug Life's audio launch?

The audio launch happened in Chennai on May 25, where Kamal Haasan spoke about his film, co-stars and crew. At the event, Kannada star Shivarajakumar was also present. When Haasan started his speech, he said, "Uyire Urave Tamizhe (My life and my family is Tamil)." He called Shivaraj his family living in another state and added, “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.”

Kamal Haasan's statement sparked a row on the internet

Soon after the video went viral, several netizens corrected him, saying that Kannada is a sister language of Tamil and not born out of it. A section of the internet also asked for a ban on the film's release in Karnataka for hurting their sentiments. A user wrote, "Kannada Nation it's high Time to Cook this Damil Pig. Ban THUG life In Karnataka."

Another user wrote, "I fully support Kannada activists in any action they take against Kamal Hassan like boycotting his films, demanding apology or massive protests they are going to do in next couple of days across Bengaluru."

A third user wrote, "Ban his film THUG LIFE in Karnataka, with all due respect, Kamal should have had some sense in his head before blabbering white lies."

"Kamal came to promote 'Thug Life,' said Kannada, which comes from Tamil, started a big fight, and left! 😤 South Kannada might have some Tamil words, but North Kannada? has little to no Tamil influence. Yeriira neruppu la petrol oothivittu poyitaan Maharasan!!" read a post.

All about Thug Life

The film marks the reunion of Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam, 37 years after their cult film, Naayakan. Apart from Haasan, the film also stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Nassar, Abhirami and Aishwarya Lekshmi in pivotal roles. The film has music composed by AR Rahman. It will hit the theatres on June 5.

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