Amid The On-Going Language Debate, Telugu Star Chiranjeevi Recalls South Indian Cinema Being Sidelined At An Awards Function

In a video on twitter, the 'Acharya' actor can be seen sharing an incident, where he goes on to describe how South Indian cinema and acting stalwarts were sidelined at an awards function.

New Delhi: The on-going debate over Hindi being the national language, has led to an array of artistes from different states, voicing their opinions and bringing to fore the importance of regional languages and their acceptance. After the twitter battle that ensued between Kannada star Kiccha Sudeep and Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, several others expressed their views on the issue.

The latest to join the league is Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi. In a video on twitter, the 'Acharya' actor can be seen sharing an incident, where he goes on to describe how South Indian cinema and acting stalwarts were sidelined at an awards function. Chiranjeevi told the audience that he had gone to Delhi to receive the Nargis Dutt Award, for his film 'Rudraveena' in 1998. 

As he was having high tea at the hall before the award function began, he saw posters of Bollywood movies and actors like Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand among others. The posters also carried long descriptions about them. While on the other hand, the South Indian cinema was limited to the mention of only MGR and Jayalalitha and showing a picture of Prem Nazir, who entertained the audience with his performance in a record number of films. He futher went on to say how superstars like Kannada Kanteerava Rajkumar or Rama Rao and Nageswara Rao were ignored.

Check out the video here:

 

Chiranjeevi hailed 'Bahubali' director SS Rajamouli for bringing Telugu cinema on the map of Indian cinema with his movies, including his latest magnum opus, 'RRR', that has set a record by grossing over 1000 crores worldwide.

He also said that today, he can proudly thump his chest and say that 'regional cinema has broken all barriers and has now become a part of Indian cinema'.

See the video here:

 

While the South Stars have time and again tried to assert the importance of their regional languages, several Bollywood celebrities have tried to impose Hindi as the national language on them.