The saddest part of Javed Akhtar’s post defending Rashmika Mandanna is not his intention, but the assumption behind his choice of language. He later corrected the factual error, but the original reference raises a larger question: why does criticism of a South Indian actor’s pronunciation automatically lead to Tamil?
Rashmika is from Karnataka, belongs to the Kodava community, and speaks Kodava Takk as her mother tongue. She is married to Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda. Her journey across film industries reflects the multilingual reality of Indian cinema, not the boundaries of one language.
Yet, for many outside the South, Tamil continues to serve as a convenient label for an entire region. Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Kodava are distinct linguistic identities, each with its own history and cultural significance. Treating them as interchangeable is not inclusivity; it is ignorance.
Telugu people have their own long struggle for linguistic identity. Potti Sriramulu’s sacrifice helped secure a separate Andhra State, and N. T. Rama Rao later made Telugu pride central from his political identity.
The irony is that a post condemning linguistic superiority can itself reveal how little some people understand the linguistic diversity of the South.
India cannot celebrate its diversity while reducing an entire region to a single language. Respecting Tamil does not require overlooking Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam. And defending Rashmika does not require getting her linguistic identity wrong.
The real test of linguistic respect is simple: recognise every language on its own terms.
Those who have any problem with the pronounciation of Tamil actor Rashmika should be given a few lines of Tamil which is the oldest spoken language in the world and let’s see how well they pronounce Tamil . This fake and baseless linguistic superiority is not acceptable.
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) October 25, 2026
