India, May 28 -- A major controversy has erupted in Karnataka after veteran actor and politician Kamal Haasan made a contentious remark about the Kannada language, prompting a strong backlash from pro-Kannada groups and political leaders. The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), one of the state's most vocal Kannada organisations, has now threatened to boycott Haasan's films across Karnataka unless he issues an unconditional apology.

The row stems from comments made by Haasan at a promotional event for his upcoming film Thug Life held in Bengaluru. While addressing the audience, Haasan opened his speech with the Tamil phrase "Uyire Urave Tamizhe" (My life and soul is Tamil) and referred to Kannada actor Shivarajkumar as "family from another ...