At the launch of the teaser for his upcoming film KD – The Devil, Dhruva Sarja addressed a media question about the lack of opposition from the Kannada film industry against the ban of Kamal Haasan's Thug Life in Karnataka. Speaking about the controversy, the actor seemed to defend the industry as he said, "Like the people of Tamil Nadu, we (Kannadigas) also love our mother tongue. When it comes to our mother tongue, people will definitely react."
He was responding to a question about why Kannada cinema does not support Tamil films the same way the Tamil industry backs films made in the neighbouring state. In his response, the actor added that every Tamil film except for Thug Life released in Karnataka and that the Kannada audience would encourage films from the neighbouring state. He suggested that the opposition against Kamal and Thug Life emerged because the actor's comments hurt Kannadigas' "self respect" as well.
For the uninitiated, a controversy erupted when Kamal Haasan said at the recent Thug Life audio launch that Kannada is born out of Tamil. While Kamal clarified that he made the comment out of sheer love for Shivarajkumar and Kannadigas, it did not go down well the latter, especially pro-Kannada groups. Consequently, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) kept the film from releasing on the same day as elsewhere. The Supreme Court later lifted the ban on the film, but by then, it was too little too late for the local distributors to take a punt on the film, which was already getting negative criticism and word of mouth in other centres.
On the other hand, director Prem's KD – The Devil is slated for a July 10, 2026, release. The film also stars Reeshma Nanaiah, Sanjay Dutt, Shilpa Shetty, Ramesh Aravind, and Nora Fatehi, among others.
