Actor Chiranjeevi on a humiliating trip to Delhi, how Telugu cinema has changed after Baahubali, RRR
Chiranjeevi spoke at an event before the release of his latest film Acharya
Hyderabad:
For a long time, only Hindi cinema was considered Indian cinema and it was “humiliating” for him as an actor of the Telugu film industry, said famous actor Chiranjeevi , while also noting films like Baahubali and RRR that broke the language barrier and made them proud.
The superstar’s emotional speech, delivered at an event ahead of the release of his latest film Acharya, comes as South India protests alleged attempts to impose Hindi is the national language.
In a video shared by Brut India, Mr. Chiranjeevi is told of his trip to Delhi to receive the national award for Rudraveena (1988).
While the debate over language continues, Telugu star Chiranjeevi recalls a time when South Indian cinema was excluded from an awards ceremony… pic.twitter.com/sMALFJTldl
– Brut India (@BrutIndia) May 1, 2022
“In 1988, I made a film called Rudraveena with Naga Babu. It won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. We went to Delhi to receive the award,” he said in Telugu.
He added that the award ceremony took place in the evening and there was high tea before that.
“We were drinking tea in the hall. The walls around us were decorated with posters showing the grandeur of Indian cinema. There were some brief notes. There were photos of Prithiviraj. Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra…
“And we thought they would also talk about South Indian cinema in such detail. But they just showed a still photo of MGR (MG Ramachandran) and Jayalalithaa dancing. They described it as Southern cinema. India. And Prem Nazir, who played a hero in a record number of films in the history of Indian cinema, they showed his image and that was it,” said Mr. Chiranjeevi, his eyes welling with tears.
The actor then went on to list the big names of South Indian cinema without being mentioned – Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, NT Rama Rao, A Nageswara Rao and Sivaji Ganesan.
“For us, they are demigods. And there is no image of them. To me, it is humiliating. I feel very sad. They only see Hindi cinema as Indian cinema. And they do. remove the other industry is the regional language cinema.They do not he said.
Mr. Chiranjeevi went on to say that films like Baahubali 1, 2 and RRR have made Telugu cinema proud.
SS Rajamouli, director of films standing by his side, the famous actor said: “After all these years, today I feel so proud that I can beat my chest. Our industry has proven it. that we are no longer a cinema in the region. Elugu cinema has removed these barriers and become a part of Indian cinema. Everyone was amazed at our success. overcome discrimination. Thank you Baahubali, Baahubali 2 and RRR,” he said.
Mr. Chiranjeevi’s emotional speech came days after a heated exchange between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Sudeep Sanjeev.
While Mr. Sudeep pointed out that Hindi is not our national language, Mr. Devgn questioned why films in southern Indian languages were dubbed in Hindi.
The exchange sparked a debate on social media, with politicians also taking part. Mr Devgn, a division of the alleged Karnataka leaders, has been “considered the mouthpiece of the BJP”.
Even so, opposition to Hindi is not limited to cinema. Last month, in the wake of Home Minister Amit Shah’s Hindi propaganda, some southern leaders warned that any attempt to impose Indian Hindi would backfire.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan and Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao were among the leaders who spoke out against Mr. Shah’s remarks and stressed that unity in diversity is the strength of India.
