Key Points

Dhruva Sarja, who was in Chennai for the Tamil teaser launch of his film KD The Devil, took time to answer questions from the media in Chennai on Friday.

The actor's attention was drawn to the fact that while Kannada films could release without any hassle in Tamil Nadu, a Tamil film (Thug Life) that had released recently in other parts could not be released in Karnataka.

Responding to the question, actor Dhruva Sarja said that people in Karnataka were hurt by a particular statement of actor Kamal Haasan that resulted in the prevention of release of his pan-Indian film Thug Life.

The actor said, "There have been a lot of Tamil films that have released in Karnataka even before I was born. So, nobody stopped any of those movies. Here, in this particular case, people there got offended by a statement of Kamal Haasan. Let me be direct and open about this."

He went on to say, "Here, everybody loves their mother tongue. Similarly, we love and we adore our mother tongue. When it comes to our mother tongue, definitely people will react. Except for that one film, all other (Tamil) films have released there. So, our Kannada audience will definitely encourage. When it comes to their self respect or mother tongue, they will definitely oppose."

Director Prem said, "All films release in Karnataka. Also, this is not another country. We are just 300 kms away. So, we are all one. People felt hurt because the statement was about our mother (tongue). They did not say that Tamil films must not release. It (the opposition) was only for Kamal sir's film. They only asked him to say sorry because he made that statement. That was all. Everybody is one. We all, including me, watch Tamil films."

- IANS