Actor Shilpa Shetty recently made an appearance in Mumbai to promote her upcoming film KD The Devil, but chose not to weigh in on the ongoing Marathi language controversy when asked by the media. Instead, she kept the focus on her film, stating that she didn’t want to stoke any controversy.
When asked about the Marathi row at the teaser launch, Shilpa tactfully responded in both Marathi and Hindi, “Me Maharashtra chi mulgi aahe. Aaj humlog baat kar rahe hain KD ke baare mein. EToh KD se hatke abhi aap kisi controversy mein jana chahte hain toh hum uska badhaawa nahi karenge. Yeh picture already ek multi-lingual hai, isko hum Marathi mei bhi dub kar sakte hain.”
(I’m a girl from Maharashtra. Today we’re here to talk about KD. If you’re trying to shift focus to a controversy, I won’t encourage that. The film is already multilingual — we can dub it in Marathi too.)
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Standing beside her was co-star Sanjay Dutt, who chose to stay silent and simply smiled at her answer, subtly supporting her decision to steer clear of the issue.
The controversy in question stems from the Maharashtra government’s plan to introduce Hindi as a third language in primary schools, which was met with backlash from opposition parties and Marathi language advocates. Though the decision was eventually rolled back, the issue has remained hotly debated — especially after MNS chief Raj Thackeray recently told his party workers to encourage non-Marathi speakers in Mumbai to learn the state’s native language.
Shilpa, however, is choosing to keep the spotlight on cinema. KD The Devil, a multilingual action-drama directed by Prem, also stars Dhruva Sarja, Reeshma Nanaiah, Ramesh Aravind, and Ravichandran. The teaser, launched on July 10, showcases Sanjay Dutt as Dhak Deva and Dhruva as Kaali Dasa aka KD, with the film set to release in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.