The war of words between senior actor Prakash Raj and the fans of Power Star and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has reached a new high.
It began with Prakash Raj reacting sharply to Pawan Kalyan’s recent comments on the Hindi language during a meeting in Chennai, where he emphasized the importance of learning Hindi for people from southern states.
Pawan said, "Telugu might be our mother tongue, but our national language is Hindi. We use Telugu to communicate at home, but when we step outside, we use Hindi."
He further added, “The world is finding reasons to divide, but as a country, we are trying to unite through Hindi. I welcome such a language. Whether it's the Dravidian languages — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam — or any other Indian language, we must respect our mother tongue. If Telugu is our mother, then Hindi is like our pedamma (mother's elder sister).”
Prakash Raj called Pawan Kalyan’s remarks “shameful.” He retweeted a video of Pawan’s speech and wrote: “Ee range ki ammukovadamaa.. chee, chee” (Selling yourself to this extent? Ugh… how shameful!) #justasking.
Pawan Kalyan’s fans were enraged by Prakash Raj’s comment and began threatening him on social media. One user wrote, “Hey you scoundrel, if we see you, we’ll beat you with slippers. We’ll thrash you hard — watch out!”
Another posted, “No, @PawanKalyan, did you really beat him up during the OG shoot? He’s crying like this now.” (Pawan and Prakash will appear together in the upcoming action film OG.)
One fan questioned Prakash’s hypocrisy, asking, “If people hated other languages like you say, would you have done so many films across languages? Would you have earned this much, gained a national reputation, or lived such a life, Prakash Raj anna?”
In response, the Jana Sena Party posted a video on social media saying: “This is what selling out truly looks like!”
The party clarified that Pawan Kalyan’s remarks were not against learning other languages, but rather about preserving one’s mother tongue while also embracing and respecting others.
“If learning other languages is wrong, how can you act in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam films?” Jana Sena asked.