'Very stupid': Mohandas Pai on Kamal Haasan's 'Kannada born out of Tamil' comment

Chairman of Aarin Capital Partners and former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai urged actor Kamal Haasan not to create conflict.

A day after superstar Kamal Haasan sparked a row by saying that the Kannada language was born out of Tamil, former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai called it "a very stupid, unnecessary statement" and urged him not to create conflict. The actor-turned-politician is set to make his entry into Rajya Sabha in Tamil Nadu, after the ruling DMK allotted one seat to his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM).

"Why make loose remarks and create conflict?" Pai wrote on X. "Kannada is an independent classical language with a great history just like Tamil is. Respect both not this."

A very stupid unnecessary statement by KamalHassan. Why make loose remarks and create conflict. Kannada is an independent classical language with a great history just like Tamil is. Respect both not this. https://t.co/RKLkiUfefD
Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) May 28, 2025

Not just from Pai, Haasan has received backlash from several political parties. Taking a dig at him, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said, "Kannada has a long-standing history. Poor Kamal Haasan, he is unaware of it." Meanwhile, pro-Kannada outfits have been demanding that he apologise for hurting the sentiments of the linguistic community. Protests against Haasan were also staged in various parts of Karnataka, such as Belagavi, Mysuru, Hubballi, and Bengaluru, among others. According to India Today, a complaint has been filed against Haasan with the Bengaluru police over the remark.

The incident happened during the recent audio launch of Haasan's upcoming film ‘Thug Life’ in Chennai where he claimed that 'Tamil gave birth to Kannada". After it sparked a row, the actor clarified that the comment was made “out of love” and that politicians such as him should leave such discussions to language experts.

The remarks made by #KamalHaasan about the #kannadalanguage is highly condemnable and unconstitutional. #Kamal who started his cinematic journey with a #Kannada film, is now making trivial remarks about Kannada. We demand his immediate apologize to the Kannadigas.@KannadaNaduu pic.twitter.com/3hRVCjl66v SHIVA ASHTAGI (@Shiva_Ashtagii) May 28, 2025

"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 CM, and a Kannadiga Iyengar has been our CM,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “Politicians are not qualified to talk about language. They don't have the qualifications to talk about it, including me. Let us leave all these very in-depth discussions to historians, archaeologists, and language experts."