Cauvery water row: Shivarajkumar apologizes to Siddharth after actor is forced to leave Chikku promotion

It is not often that a mainstream actor from another industry takes a personal interest in the dubbing of his/her film in a different language and even makes the effort to dub in his/her voice. In the past, Ram Charan and Jr NTR had done it for RRR, Sai Pallavi for Gargi and now, Siddharth for his latest Chittha. The Kannada version, called Chikku, is what Siddharth was promoting in Bengaluru, when a press briefing prior to the screening of the film was disrupted by a bunch of protestors from a pro-Kannada organization, who claimed that it was not in the right spirit to promote a ‘Tamil’ film when Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are engaged in a tussle over allocation of Cauvery water. Siddharth was eventually forced to leave the event mid-way.

Cauvery water row: Chithha star Siddharth forced to leave press conference in Karnataka

Earlier today, Century Star Shivarajkumar was at a Cauvery water protest along with actors Darshan, Vasishta N Simha, Dhruva Sarja, among others, when he took the stage to tender an apology to Siddharth. “Recently, the press meet of an actor from another industry was stopped in Bengaluru. This is wrong; Kannadigas have always been known to be welcoming. On behalf of the entire Kannada film industry, I extend a heartfelt apology to Siddharth. I was very hurt by what happened. Kanndigas love and support all languages and their movies too,” he said.

The Hattrick Hero also threw a question at the gathered crowd wondering what good it would do for stars like him to come to a protest as this and show support. “Tell me, what can any of us really do about this issue. It is the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that need to talk and come to an amicable solution. At the centre of this are farmers and there’s no distinction between a farmer in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that mindless protests and destruction of public property is not the solution.