Lal Salaam — Dhanya Balakrishna's old comments spark fresh outrage, spotlight on Rajinikanth, Aishwarya

Actor Dhanya Balakrishna finds herself amid a raging controversy surrounding her old comments on Tamil Nadu. The controversy erupted just a few days ahead of the release of her upcoming movie Lal Salaam, which features Superstar Rajinikanth in an extended cameo.

In 2012, Dhanya made a controversial post hastily following the loss of Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL tournament. "Dear Chennai, you beg for water, we give! You beg for electricity, we give! Your people come and occupy our beautiful city and kocha paduthify it, we allow, and now you're at our mercy to go to playoffs, we let be!! Like this, you begging, we giving!," she had tweeted at the time.

Stirring up emotions since 2012

As expected, the post caused massive outrage against Dhanya. After facing heavy criticism, Dhanya announced that she had opted out of Tamil movies she had signed at the time and would never return to Tamil cinema.

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However, these old comments have boiled up from the depths of the internet, stirring up emotions once again. "If this information is true… how can someone be so rude and still shamelessly act again in Tamil Movies.. You Beg We give," asked a popular VJ Parvathy Saran.

Social media backlash against Dhanya Balakrishna

One of the leading Tamil YouTube reviewers Blue Sattai Maran is leading an online debate against Dhanya. He has also raised questions directed at Rajinikanth and director Aishwarya Rajinikanth, asking how they can justify casting someone who made such hurtful comments against Tamil Nadu.

Dhanya is said to have played the female lead Lal Salaam, which stars Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth in the lead roles.

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"Can a #TamilNadu actor talk ill about #Karnataka and its people and still continue to act in a #Kannada movie? Wasn't actor #siddharth stopped in the middle of a movie promotion just because #cauverywater issue was on?," asked another X user.

Neither Dhanya nor the producers of Lal Salaam have responded to this controversy as of yet.

After the 2012 social media fiasco, Dhanya primarily pursued acting opportunities in Telugu and Kannada movies. Before Lal Salaam, she appeared in two other Tamil movies, Yaar Ivan and Carbon. However, the issue resurfaced just a week before the release of Lal Salaam.

In 2022, Dhanya married Tamil filmmaker Balaji Mohan.

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