Sona Mohapatra calls it a ‘shame’ that some Bollywood actors can ‘barely’ speak in Hindi: ‘One should be fluent’

Sona Mohapatra has called it a ‘shame’ that some Bollywood actors are not fluent in Hindi despite working in the Hindi film industry. Sona said that while South Indian cinema embraces its culture, some Hindi film actors struggle even to speak the language properly. Also Read| Sona Mohapatra recalls getting ‘rape threats’ after she criticised Salman Khan

Sona will be soon seen in Shut Up Sona, a documentary on her, which she describes as a commentary on the music and Bollywood industry through a feminine lens. Sona, who has been recently focusing on live shows instead of working in Bollywood as a playback singer, clarified that it does not mean that she is parting ways with the industry.

Asked to comment on the Hindi language debate, Sona told India Today, “I can say one thing, that I have watched RRR and Pushpa and I was literally jumping and dancing and kind of making the ‘foofa’ crowd uncomfortable and I had one reaction. Hats off! The effort, the art direction, the casting was brilliant. It was great to see them embrace their culture.”

She added, “Although we have some incredible stars in Bollywood, I must say that there are actors who can barely speak Hindi and it’s a shame because, as a Hindi film star, one should be fluent in the language. The Indian aesthetics are quite strong in South films.”

It comes after actor Sudeep, popularly known as Kiccha Sudeep, and Ajay Devgn engaged in a debate on Hindi being the ‘national language.’ Sudeep had said at a press event that Hindi can no longer be called the ‘national language’ after the recent hits from the South Indian cinema, after which Ajay tweeted and asked Sudeep why he chooses to dub his films in Hindi. Sudeep had later clarified that the context in which he made the statement was entirely different and it wasn’t meant to provoke any debate.

Sona’s documentary Shut Up Sona will start streaming on ZEE5 on July 1. It is directed by Deepti Gupta.