ENTERTAINMENT

Ajay Devgn's tweet to Kiccha Sudeep on the Hindi language invited quite a few reactions from the Indian film fraternity. Devgn had reacted to Sudeep's comment at an event about Hindi not being the national language of India. The Runway 34 tweeted, "My brother, if according to you Hindi is not our national language then why do you release your movies in your mother tongue by dubbing them in Hindi? Hindi was, is and always will be our mother tongue and national language. Jan Gan Man.” Sudeep got into a war of words with Devgn regarding the same leading to a North-South debate.

We talked to a few Telugu filmmakers for their take on the ongoing debate.

The row over Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn's assertion that Hindi is India's national language refuses to die down as prominent Karnataka leaders have jumped into the debate, offering a reality check to the actor. Two former Karnataka Chief Ministers have slammed Mr Devgn and pointed out that Hindi is not India's national language. 

Karnataka's current Chief Minister BJP's Basavaraj Bommai has also commented on the language row.

"What Sudeep has said is right. After the formation of states, they had their own regional languages, those mother tongues have assumed importance in the respective states. What Sudeep has said is right. Each of us should respect this," he said. 

Made entirely during the lockdown, Runway 34 is now set for release this Friday. The film is special since Ajay Devgn has already given 9 theatrical successes in a row (barring Baadshaho) and is now all set for his tenth release, which he has also directed. That puts the film further in focus since he is known for his style quotient when it comes to the visuals, as seen in Shivaay as well. This time around though, the focus is on drama than action, and that promises Runway 34 to be an intense watch.

Promo of the film is quite impressive and for the multiplex junta, there is a lot in the offering. Such kind of films which rely a lot on dialoguebaazi in a back and forth narrative make for a good movie watching experience, as was the case with Badla as well. Amitabh Bachchan is a common element here and with him in a zone where he interrogates Ajay Devgn, one can expect a lot of intensity on screen.

Thalaivar 169, Rajinikanth’s long-awaited 169th project, was confirmed a few months ago. This is Rajinikanth’s first association with the well-known filmmaker Nelson Dilipkumar. The film’s official confirmation was accompanied by a fantastic teaser recently.

However, soon after rumour had it that Nelson was to be replaced in Thalaivar 169, much to the surprise of the fans. Sources close to the celebrity, however, have put the rumours to rest. The rumour mill was abuzz that Rajinikanth is disappointed with Nelson Dilipkumar’s recent film, Beast. After seeing the Thalapathy Vijay-starrer, the superstar was reportedly pondering changing the filmmaker of Thalaivar 169.

However, sources close to the Kabali actor have refuted the rumours and affirmed that Nelson is still very much a part of the work.

KGF 2 is doing the unthinkable at the box office both in the Hindi belt and the rest of India, too. Besides, becoming the first film to hit a century daily for 4 days in a row across India since opening, KGF Chapter 2 also posted the highest opening day, opening weekend and opening week for any film in the Hindi belt while also becoming the fastest to reach 250 crore nett in the Hindi market. The Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon and Srinidhi Shetty starrer, directed by Prashanth Neel, also registered the third-highest opening of all time pan-India after RRR and Baahubali 2.