South superstar Dhanush recently visited his school, Thaai Sathya Matriculation School in Chennai, to inaugurate a new academic block he funded. During his visit, the actor got emotional and delivered a speech where he urged students to take pride in their native language. The actor said that not knowing Tamil is not a matter of pride and recalled how he struggled with English as a child but developed fluency in Tamil. He recounted an incident from the shoot of a film in Belgium that changed the way he looked at a language.
Dhanush Requests Students To Learn Tamil
During his speech, mentioned that when he meets people today, eight out of ten don’t know how to read and write Tamil properly. However, they are very good at English. He called such a situation ‘disheartening’.
The actor recalled the incident and said, “I did a film, a French production, and the shoots were in Belgium. When they asked me if I knew English, I said, ‘Yes, I know,’ and they were very surprised. Usually, people embarrass you for not knowing English, but they were surprised when I said yes. When I asked why, they responded, ‘You should know your mother tongue well. English is a bonus, right?’ That is how they perceive language.”
Dhanush. (Credit: Instagram)
Dhanush further mentioned in his speech that one should learn their mother tongue first before anything else. According to him, people should read and write their native language. “Saying you don’t know is not something to be proud of. Not knowing your mother tongue is actually shameful,” Dhanush added. He asked the students to give importance to Tamil and understand the importance of mother tongue. He concluded his speech by motivating the students to study hard and achieve their dreams.
About Dhanush
Dhanush has predominantly been working in the Tamil film industry for more than 20 years. He has acted in films Kaadhal Kondein, Kutty, Asuran, Aadukalam, 3, Maryan, Anegan, Maari, Kodi, Velaiilla Pattadhari, Kuberaa and so on. He has also acted in a few Hindi films like Raanjhanaa, Shamitabh, Atrangi Re and Tere Ishk Mein.
His last film, Idli Kadai, turned out to be a big hit at the box office. He will next be seen in OM Chapter 1: Udham The Blood and Tamizh Murugan.
A few days ago, a report about Dhanush making his entry into politics surfaced online after his fan clubs launched a series of large-scale welfare initiatives in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district ahead of his birthday. However, the actor has not yet made any official statement on the same.