"Love Should Not Be Toxic, Even For Languages": Kamal Haasan On Hindi Row

Love for anyone, be it for language, should not devolve into hate for another, actor-politician Kamal Haasan said at NDTV's Tamil Nadu Summit on Friday, adding that a language should not be forced upon anyone.

"See, love for anything - father, mother, woman, girlfriend, wife - is a two-way action. So, language is my cultural pride and that's where it stays. I love my language. To love my language, I don't have to hate another. If I want him to love my language, I can love his language, but do not impose it on us. Leave the choice to the people," MNM chief Haasan said when asked if love for language should turn into a political ideology and if it's healthy.

The actor underlined that language is just a communication device and when it comes to him, "it's my feeling, it's my expression and it's me".

#NDTVTNSummit | "Language is my cultural pride and that is where is stays. To love my language, I don't have to hate another. Do not impose it on us, leave the choice to the people": Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) to @tmvraghav pic.twitter.com/KDTHsnbWN3

— NDTV (@ndtv) January 30, 2026

When pressed to answer if there is an atmosphere of language imposition or if it is being done to fuel a particular political narrative, the politician said," Love should never become toxic. It's mutual. Be it a marriage of languages, it cannot be toxic, and it cannot be imposed. Leave us the choice." 

There has been an ongoing tussle between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre, where the DMK government accuses the BJP of imposing Hindi. Amid this, the state also introduced the State Education Policy, with a two-language formula.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, addressing a public meeting in Chennai to observe Veera Vanakkam Day in honour of people who died during the language agitation in the state in the late 1930s, underlined that the state would firmly oppose and not accept the "Hindi imposition" by the central government.

Stalin said people of Tamil Nadu hold a unique place in world history for having laid down their lives to protect their mother tongue. He noted that the movement initiated during the eras of Periyar EV Ramasamy and former Chief Minister CN Annadurai continues with the same intensity even today.

He pointed out that several mother tongues once spoken in states such as Haryana, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh gradually declined after the introduction of Hindi. "Hindi has become a language that swallows many mother tongues," he said, adding that this is why Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed the alleged Hindi imposition.

Last week, Haasan, whose party is in alliance with the DMK, had accused the BJP-led Centre of divisive politics, attempts at Hindi imposition, and neglecting Tamil language development during a meeting at the party's headquarters in Chennai.

Speaking about his experiences, the 71-year-old Haasan said he learnt Hindi at the age of 27, adding that he was never forced into learning the language. 

"I left the choice to myself. I didn't allow anyone to impose it on me. And I learnt Hindi at age twenty-seven. I didn't know a word of Hindi. The very little Hindi I knew was my friends calling me names and I said, 'What are you calling me?' He said, 'It's a bad word.' I said, 'So teach me that.' That is the first Hindi I learnt," he said.

"That's how a Hindi man learns Tamil also. But then hate becomes love and he dives deep into the language. That's how I learnt," he said.

The MNM leader said that is how he "furthered" his Hindi education and spoke dialects in it.  

"But I can't write Hindi at all," he clarified. 

He then said he has a "dubious distinction" of being not so literate in about six languages and maybe a "scholar in three or a wannabe scholar in three". 

"You want to know which three?" he asked. 

"Tamil, English and cinema," he said, with the hall erupting in applause.

"As a language? Cinema is a language?" he was asked. 

"Cinema can speak any language, with subtitles, of course," the actor added to loud cheers.

Last year, the actor-politician had to issue a clarification after his comments that "Kannada was born out of Tamil" sparked a huge row. 

"What I said was said out of love, and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn't mean anything. Tamil Nadu is a state where a Menon has been our Chief Minister, where a Reddy has been our Chief Minister, a Tamil has been our Chief Minister, and a Kannadiga Iyengar has been our Chief Minister," he said clarifying his remarks last year, adding that, "Politicians not qualified to talk about language, including me."