Actor Prakash Raj today found himself at a centre of a raging furore after a video clip from his latest movie “Jai Bhim” went viral on social media. The clip shows Raj promoting linguistic racism and hatred against Hindi speakers.
In the video clip, Raj can be seen losing his cool when a person speaks to him in Hindi. The actor slaps the person and orders him to speak in Tamil.
Prakash Raj with his propaganda in the movie ‘Jay Bhim’ where he slaps a person who speaks in Hindi. pic.twitter.com/1SwPVssbK7
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) November 2, 2021
“Speak in Tamil,” Raj says after slapping the person who was speaking in Hindi.
The anti-Hindi sentiments are promoted in both Telugu and Tamil version of the movie. In both these versions, Raj slaps the person speaking in Hindi and tells him to speak in Telugu and Tamil respectively. However, in the Hindi dub of the movie, Raj slaps the person and asks him to “speak the truth”.
எதுக்குடா உங்களுக்கு இந்த பொழப்பு? pic.twitter.com/452hA7Qv6K
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) November 2, 2021
Social media users were evidently miffed with Raj after the video clip from his movie Jai Bhim started doing the rounds on the internet. They slammed him for being a part of the movie that promoted violence and antagonism against Hindi speakers.
Social media users slam actor Prakash Raj and his movie Jai Bhim for promoting hatred and violence against Hindi speakers
One user poignantly remarked it’s crime to be a Hindu and Hindi-speaking in Hindustan.
It’s a crime to be a Hindu or to speak Hindi in Hindustan.
— Mohan Bisht (@MohanBi53465294) November 2, 2021
Another user said such scenes pose a threat to north Indians living in Tamil Nadu as it promotes violence against Hindi speakers. The user also pointed out how it was deliberate to show a person who knew Tamil speak Hindi in a Tamil Nadu office so that they could promote anti-Hindi sentiments.
They’re spreading hatred against north Indians residing in Tamilnadu.Not done. And secondly why would he speak in Hindi in the govt office of tamilnadu??? None of us will speak in Hindi with them unless we don’t know tamil. In this scene he CAN speak in Tamil!. Kuch bhi!!
— Rakshit Jain (@im_rak24) November 2, 2021
Yet another user slammed the actor saying he shamelessly acted in Hindi movies for money.
and this guy shamelessly acted in Hindi movies for money.
— Chellam Sir Fan (@ChellamSirFan) November 2, 2021
A Twitter user tagged MNS handles and asked if they can ensure Prakash Raj speaks Marathi whenever he is in Mumbai.
@mnsadhikrut @MNSAmeyaKhopkar Please can we also ensure this Prakash Raj speaks only in Marathi when he comes to Mumbai?
— Rakesh Patil (@PatilRakesh85) November 2, 2021
The video clip that is doing the rounds on the internet is from the much-anticipated Tamil movie, Jai Bhim, which was released on OTT platform Amazon Prime on Tuesday. The movie is based on real-life incident that took place in Tamil Nadu in the 1990s, where a lawyer fought to get justice for a tribal woman.
