Kamal Haasan reacts to Kannada origin controversy: 'Lot of historians have taught me language history'

Kamal Haasan

A day after raging controversy erupted over actor and politician Kamal Haasan's comment linking the origin of Kannada language to Tamil, the Thug Life star has reacted to his initial statement. On Wednesday, talking to reporters, Haasan clarified that his statement was made "out of love." Urging that such sensitive subjects be left to experts, Haasan said politicians -- including himself -- are not qualified to engage in academic discussions about language history.

Kamal Haasan reacts to language controversy

"What I said was out of love, and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn't mean anything," Haasan said.

Haasan pointed out that leaders from various linguistic and regional backgrounds have served as the state's Chief Ministers and said, "Tamil Nadu is a state where a Menon (MG Ramachandran) has been our Chief Minister, where a Reddy (Omandur Ramasamy Reddiyar) has been our Chief Minister, a Tamil (M Karunanidhi) has been our CM, and a Kannadiga Iyengar (J Jayalalithaa) has been our CM."

"Politicians are not qualified to talk about language. They don't have the qualifications to talk about it, including me. Let us leave all these very in-depth discussions to historians, archaeologists and language experts," he added.

What Kamal Haasan said about Kannada

"Kannada language was born from Tamil language," said the actor during an event in Chennai to promote his movie ‘Thug Life'. Referring to the presence of Kannada actor Shivarajkumar at the same event, Haasan said, "This is my family in that place. That's why he (Shivarajkumar) has come here. That's why I began my speech by saying, life, family and Tamil. Your language (Kannada) was born out of Tamil, so you too are included (part of it)."

Earlier in the day, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah slammed actor Kamal Haasan following his reported remark, 'Kannada is born out of Tamil, and said that he was unaware of the language's "long-standing" history.

Thug Life ban in Karnataka?

Pro-Kannada groups, too, expressed their anger. Activists from Karnataka Rakshana Vedike tore posters of 'Thug Life' in Bengaluru and issued warnings of a potential statewide ban on the film.

Praveen Shetty, leader of the outfit, slammed Hassan, stating, "We are warning you that if you talk against Kannada and Kannadigas, we will ban your movie."

The controversy comes just days ahead of the release of 'Thug Life', scheduled to hit theatres on June 5.

(with inputs from ANI)