‘Ban Thug Life in Karnataka’: Kamal Haasan’s statement on Kannada sparks huge row, internet sees red

Actor Kamal Haasan may have inadvertently sparked a row about languages just days before the release of his new film, Thug Life. The actor was in Chennai for the audio launch earlier this week. A video of his statement comparing Tamil and Kannada languages has now emerged, leading to pro-Kannada groups slamming him and even demanding a ban on the film in Karnataka. (Also read: Mani Ratnam defends Kamal Haasan romancing 28-year-younger Trisha Krishnan in Thug Life)

Kamal Haasan’s statement on Kannada

At the audio launch event in Chennai on Sunday, the veteran actor was joined by the film’s cast and crew. Kannada star Shivarajakumar was also present at the event. At one point, Kamal took to the stage and was asked to speak. He started with “Uyire Urave Tamizhe (My life and my family is Tamil language).” Elaborating on his statement, Kamal then said, “Actor Shivarajkumar is my family living in another state. 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.”

The internet calls for ban, apology

The statement, however, has not gone down too well with many in Karnataka, who claim that Kamal is trying to assert Tamil superiority over Kannada and diluting the latter’s identity. One tweet read, “Kamal came to promote ‘Thug Life,’ said Kannada 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.”

Another social media user questioned the actor with some linguistic trivia: “@ikamalhaasan Pls explain how shuddha Bhasha Kannada with 56 letters be born from Tamil with only 26 letters. Like children more intelligent than parents?”

Soon after the video was shared on Tuesday, demands for a ban on Thug Life emerged, with many on Twitter calling it ‘necessary to teach Kamal Haasan a lesson’. One angry tweet read: “Ban his film THUG LIFE in Karnataka, with all due respect, Kamal should have had some sense in his head before blabbering white lies.” Another echoed the sentiment and added, “I fully support Kannada activists in any action they take against Kamal Hassan, like boycotting his films, demanding an apology or massive protests they are going to do in the next couple of days across Bengaluru.”

About Thug Life

Thug Life marks Kamal’s first collaboration with Mani Ratnam in 37 years after their cult classic, Naayakan. Apart from Kamal, the film stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf and Baburaj. Thug Life is scheduled to be released worldwide on 5 June 2025.