For a long time, only Hindi films were considered Indian films, which was “extremely humiliating” for him as a Telugu actor, according to famed actor Chiranjeevi, who credits films like Baahubali and RRR for overcoming language barriers and making them proud.
The superstar’s passionate speech, given at a pre-release ceremony for his new film Acharya, comes amid a backlash from South India over purported attempts to impose Hindi as the country’s official language.
In a video uploaded by Brut India, Mr Chiranjeevi is heard narrating his travel to Delhi in 1988 to win a national award for Rudraveena in a video uploaded by Brut India.
“In 1988, I made a movie 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 also mentioned that the awards ceremony would take place in the evening, and that there would be high tea beforehand.
“We were having tea in the hall. The walls around us were decorated with posters showcasing 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 so on. They showed their pictures, they described them beautifully. They praised various directors and heroines.”
“And we thought they would also talk about South Indian cinema in such great detail. But they just showed a still image of MGR (M G Ramachandran) and Jayalalithaa dancing. They described it as South Indian cinema. And Prem Nazir, who played a hero in a record number of films in the history of Indian cinema, they showed his picture and that was it,” Mr Chiranjeevi said, with his teary eyes.
Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, N T Rama Rao, A Nageswara Rao, and Sivaji Ganesan were among the prominent names from South Indian cinema who were not mentioned at all, according to the actor.
“They were demigods to us. And there were no pictures of them. For me, it was humiliating. I felt very sad. They projected only Hindi cinema as Indian cinema. And they dismissed other industries as regional language cinema. They didn’t even bother to acknowledge its contribution,” he said.
Mr Chiranjeevi went on to declare that Telugu cinema is proud of films like Baahubali 1, Baahubali 2, and RRR.
S S Rajamouli, director of the films standing beside him, the renowned actor said, “After so many years, today I feel so proud, I can thump my chest. Our industry proved that we are no longer a regional cinema.Telugu cinema has removed these barriers and become part of Indian cinema. Everyone is amazed at our success. We have overcome the discrimination. Thanks to Baahubali, Baahubali 2 and RRR,” he said.
Mr Chiranjeevi’s passionate speech came after a heated argument between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Sudeep Sanjeev a few days earlier
Mr Devgn questioned why movies in south Indian languages are dubbed in Hindi, while Mr Sudeep pointed out that Hindi is not our native language.
The exchange triggered a social media controversy, which included lawmakers. Mr Devgn had “blabbered as a BJP spokesperson,” according to a section of Karnataka leaders.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan and Telangana minister K T Rama Rao were among the leaders who spoke out against Mr Shah’s remarks and stressed that unity in diversity is India’s strength.
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