Akshay Kumar on the language debate: I don’t believe in this divide

Akshay Kumar, who has been making headlines for his upcoming project Prithviraj, has now weighed in on the ongoing national language debate. For the uninitiated, talks about languages in India have become a heated topic of discussion among celebrities after Ajay Devgn and Kiccha Sudeep sparked a debate on the subject. Now, Akshay is sharing his thoughts about it. 

In a recent interview with a leading news portal, Akshay Kumar was asked what he thought about the language debate. The actor responded by saying that he doesn’t acknowledge the division between the North and South industries. He said, “I don’t believe in this divide. I hate it when somebody says South industry or North industry. We are all a common industry. I think we should stop asking this question.” 

He then added, “It is important that we understand that this is how the Britishers came and divided us, they invaded us and ruled us. We don’t seem to have learnt our lesson, we are still not understanding this. The day we understand that we are all one industry, I think things will start working much better.”

He also revealed that he doesn’t believe in the term pan-India films saying, “All I want is all the films to work, and that’s about it.”

The recent success of pan-India films that have blurred the language barrier, including RRR, KGF: Chapter 2 and Pushpa: The Rise has led to several industry insiders sharing their thoughts on the national language of India. Back when Kiccha Sudeep claimed that Hindi no longer holds the status of the national language, Ajay Devgn had countered his views. It has since turned into a debate. 

Akshay Kumar is gearing up for the release of his period film Prithviraj. The film, which sees him take on the titular role of Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, is based on Chand Bardai’s epic poem Prithviraj Raso. Former Miss World Manushi Chhillar makes her acting debut in the film. It also has Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood in pivotal roles. The film arrives in cinemas on June 3.