Actor-filmmaker Ajay Devgn stirred up a debate on the national language of India on Twitter earlier this week. Ajay got into a war of words with actor Kiccha Sudeep after he said that Hindi was not India’s national language. Responding to Sudeep’s statement, Ajay in a recent interview said that if there is no language barrier, films made in the north can be released in the south and vice versa. Today, at the trailer launch of her upcoming film Dhaakad, actor Kangana Ranaut weighed in on the Hindi as national language debate.
Responding to a journalist who asked her about the ongoing controversy which has taken a political turn, Kangana said, “There is no direct answer to this question. We are a country with a lot of diversity, multiple languages and cultures. Everybody has a birth right to take pride in their language and their culture. I am a Pahari, and I take pride in it.”
Kangana Ranaut went on to say that Sanskrit should be India’s national language. “If you ask me which language should be the national language, then I think it should be Sanskrit. Sanskrit is older than Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati or Hindi. All these languages have come from Sanskrit. Then why hasn’t Sanskrit become the national language and Hindi has? I don’t have an answer to this. These are the decisions taken at that time (when the Constitution was written),” she said.
Kangana also stated that if Hindi is not considered the national language, it is like defying the central government. She said, “When you deny Hindi (as the national language), you are denying ‘Delhi ki sarkaar’. You don’t consider Delhi as the centre. Whatever is done in the construction, whatever acts are being passed, are being done in Delhi and they do it in Hindi.”
Kangana Ranaut agreed with Ajay Devgn’s comment on how Hindi is the national language of India, but she also said that Sanskrit should be India’s national language. She said, “When you travel through the country, or go abroad to German, Spanish, or French countries, they are very proud of their language. No matter how dark the colonial history is, fortunately or unfortunately, English has become that link. Today, even within the country, we are using English to communicate. Should that be the link, or should Hindi or Sanskrit or Tamil be the link? We have to take that call. So, keeping all these things in mind, a decisive call should be taken. As of now, Hindi is the national language according to the constitution. So when Ajay Devgn ji said that Hindi is the national language of India, he was not wrong. But I would say Sanskrit should be our national language, as languages like Hindi, Germany, English, French have all stemmed from Sanskrit. Why don’t we have Sanskrit as the national language? Why is it not mandatory in schools? I don’t know that!”
Kangana further said that south Indian actors are finally getting their due in the Indian film industry. She added that south Indian films and actors have always been given a step motherly treatment in the country.
The actor said, “This debate about South and North or South Indian films coming in is so unfortunate as they have always got step a motherly treatment and that’s why it feels like a victory today. It should not have been like this. We have not had a single hero from the south as a leading man in the Hindi film industry. I have been talking about it, that how close knit this circle is and how it operates. This is also an example of how they don’t allow outsiders. And now that they are coming to take their due, which is rightfully theirs, we behave like they are taking away our screens, and getting into our territory. These are their screens, the whole nation is their’s. So, please stop looking at them like this (as outsiders). People in the industry who think that they are the god fathers here, this is a slap on their face. These (south Indian) actors deserve it because this was long overdue and they will take their due. And I am very happy that they are doing it.”
