Javed Akhtar Defends Rashmika, Corrects Tamil Actor Error

Javed Akhtar defended Rashmika Mandanna against criticism of her accent, then acknowledged that he had incorrectly referred to the actor as Tamil. In posts on X, he said people who objected to her pronunciation should try speaking Tamil themselves, and called what he described as linguistic superiority fake and baseless. Akhtar’s original post identified Mandanna as a Tamil actor. After social media users pointed out the error, he responded, “I stand corrected,” according to reports reproducing the exchange. He later apologised in another post, saying he did not know Mandanna personally and had seen only one of her films in Tamil. He added that the language was not the issue and argued that people should appreciate someone speaking their language, even with an accent. Mandanna is from Kodagu in Karnataka and is identified as a Kannada actor. She has worked across Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi cinema. The correction to Akhtar’s description prompted responses online, including criticism of the mistake and appreciation for his defence of her against accent-related mockery. Akhtar’s comments followed Mandanna’s discussion of online criticism during an appearance on Koffee With...