Senior actor Prakash Raj and Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar extended an apology to Siddharth on behalf of the Kannada film industry.
Actor Siddharth interacting with the press. (Screengrab)
Actor Siddharth seemed to have been deeply hurt by the way his press conference was disrupted when he was promoting his recently released film Chikku (Kannada version of the Tamil movie Chithha) on 28 September in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Addressing the pre-release event of the Telugu version — Chinna — on Tuesday, 3 October, the actor recalled how he was recently asked to leave the venue by a group of pro-Kannada right-wing activists who were protesting with regard to the Cauvery water dispute.
“When I went to Karnataka to promote my film Chikku, they slammed doors on me. How can they be so rude? They told me to ‘get out’ and stopped the press meet while I was there to release my movie after learning their language,” Siddharth recollected the incident.
“I wanted my film Chinna to be simultaneously dubbed in all languages. As the producer of this film, I completed the censor formalities four months ago. For the first time, I learnt Kannada and dubbed my lines in the language. I wanted to release the film simultaneously in other languages,” he said.
“But when I wanted to promote my film as an actor-producer, they stopped me. Later, apologies came in and, some even said thanks to me. But the fact is that I could not have made a better film than Chikku and I couldn’t even talk about it that day,” Siddharth added.
After the bitter incident in Bengaluru, senior actor Prakash Raj came in solidarity with Siddharth and apologised for what he (Siddharth) had to face.
Even Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar extended an apology to the actor on behalf of the Kannada film industry.
He said he was deeply hurt over the incident and assured Siddharth that such a mistake would never be repeated. “Kannada people are good people. They love all films and all languages. It’s only the people of Karnataka, who watch all kinds of films,” he mentioned in a tweet.
Chithha, the Tamil original, is an emotional thriller starring Siddharth and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead roles. The film was written and directed by SU Arun Kumar.
It also features Baby Sahasra Sree and Anjali Nair in prominent roles. Going by the trailer, the story tells a loving relationship between a paternal uncle and his niece. The music for Chithha was composed by Dhibu Ninan Thomas.
Chinna is arriving in theatres on 6 October.
May 09, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 07, 2024
May 06, 2024
May 04, 2024
