Tamil actor clarifies comments on Telugu people, slams DMK for ‘hypocrisy’

Actress Kasturi Shankar issued a clarification about her recent comments about Telugu-speaking communities in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing the backlash, she asserted that her remarks were misinterpreted and that negative propaganda was being spread against her.
“Yesterday (at the protest) I exposed the hypocrisy and double standards of DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam),” she said, defending the comments she made during the Brahmin protest.
The controversy erupted after Kasturi spoke about “those who came as assistants to the king’s consort” who later, according to her, “adopted a Tamil identity” while engaging in divisive politics.
Kasturi had made statements regarding the origins of certain Telugu-speaking communities in Tamil Nadu, at a protest on Sunday, November 3, addressing issues of Brahmin rights and opposing alleged Hindu discrimination.
Her remarks were widely criticised as offensive to Telugu identity.
Kasturi clarified that her remarks were intended to address specific historical groups, not Telugu people as a whole.
She said that her comments referenced a subset of workers who, according to her, accompanied Telugu rulers to Tamil Nadu centuries ago.
Kasturi claimed her comments were twisted to imply she had attacked Telugu communities broadly, which she vehemently denied.
“This has nothing to do with Telugu pride or Telugu people from Andhra or Telangana,” Kasturi said. “It’s about a small, historically documented group that assumed Tamil identities but now, paradoxically, seeks to define what it means to be Tamilian.”
“They are not native born Tamilians and they have no right to call Tamilians non-Tamilians,” she said.
Citing prominent dynasties like the Nayaks and Thanjavur kings with Telugu roots, she argued that these kings did not engage in divisive identity politics, unlike the groups she referenced.
“The people that indulge in Brahiminical hatred and divisive politics are not those emancipated, magnanimous kings. These are the guys who came as meagre workers for the consorts,” she said.
She emphasised that she did not say “descendants of consorts” but only as “staff of consorts, which I think Kalaignar (DMK leader M Karunanidhi) himself has acknowledged that they were artisans and musicians.”
Stating that the “people who got offended were all DMK cadres” she asserted: “This is about an outcast community from Telugu regions group from Telugu regions that came here, adopted a fake Tamil identity” and then claimed the right to define Tamil identity for others, she said.
“My statement was DMK has been indulging in Brahmin persecution and Sanatana opposition, eradication and Hindu god humiliation,” she said. “I can’t say it is atheism because they don’t comment on any other religion but they are allergic to Hindu gods and Hindu god worship. So they are anti-Hindu, anti-Brahmin and anti-Sanatana.”
Kasturi alleged that the DMK’s ideological stance singles out Brahmins and Brahminical traditions as “foreign” to Tamil Nadu while ignoring other groups’ historical migrations.
She emphasised that her comments targeted DMK’s “outsider politics,” which she believes unfairly stigmatises Brahmins as non-native to Tamil Nadu.
“⁠Their biggest argument was that Brahmins are outsiders, migrants and not Tamil. So I ask the powers that be within the Dravidian ideological system, which one of us is a native born Tamilian? ⁠History has it with evidence that these people came with the consorts of Kings in Tamil Nadu,” she said.
“Language or ethnicity doesn’t matter to me. It matters to the DMK especially if you are from Brahmin caste,” she said. “⁠Outsider politics is the cornerstone of DMK. Even (former chief minister) Jayalalithaa faced it,” Kasturi claimed.
“They’ll talk about ‘Brahminical oppression’ but never about caste oppression. For instance, if there’s an honour killing, they don’t mention the caste involved—they just label it as ‘Brahminical oppression.’ That’s the kind of logic behind Dravidian ideology,” she said.
“When you say ‘Dravidam’, it means South India. But when you say ‘Dravidianical’, it’s just like saying ‘brahminical’,” Kasturi explained.
Addressing a Tamil wordplay on ‘Dravidia’, Kasturi added, “There are plenty of Tamil words that rhyme with English ones. But honestly, any such words are nothing compared to the crassness of Dravidia ideology.”
She voiced confidence that the Telugu community would support her stand against what she termed the “fascism” of the DMK, reiterating that her statements were “specific and not generalised.”
“I thank the DMK for reacting so quickly. Now, I’ll be one of their strongest critics—not just in Tamil Nadu, but also from Telangana. Just wait and watch,” she said.
The actress concluded by stating her intent to continue being a vocal critic of the DMK from her base in Telangana, claiming that her remarks were an attempt to expose what she views as contradictions within the Dravidian movement.