Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Oct 25: Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar has come out in support of actress Rashmika Mandanna amid online criticism over her Hindi accent, calling the attacks an example of “fake and baseless linguistic superiority”.

Taking to his official X account, Akhtar challenged those questioning the actress's pronunciation to try speaking a few lines in Tamil themselves.

“Those who have any problem with the pronunciation of Tamil actor Rashmika should be given a few lines of Tamil which is the oldest spoken language in the world and let’s see how well they pronounce Tamil. This fake and baseless linguistic superiority is not acceptable,” he wrote.

However, several social media users pointed out in the comments that Rashmika is a Kannada actress from Karnataka who predominantly works in Telugu cinema.

“Very true sir, but she is from Karnataka working predominately in Telugu,” one user commented.

Another wrote, “But she is Kannada girl who married into a telugu family. Where does tamil come from.”

“Javed Saheb, Rashmika is a Kannadiga and acts in Telugu and Hindi. Less of a Tamil or being a Tamilian,” another user remarked.

One social media user also urged Akhtar to refer to South India more broadly rather than associating Rashmika with Tamil cinema.

Another commenter criticised the Hindi film industry for what they described as its stereotyping of different communities, including South Indians, Sikhs, Marathis and Bengalis. The user added that an average Indian could speak three to four regional languages.

Rashmika recently faced online trolling over her accent during her appearance on ‘Koffee With Karan Season 9’, where she appeared alongside her husband, actor Vijay Deverakonda.

Responding to the criticism, Rashmika said she failed to understand why her South Indian accent had become an issue when she herself came from the region.