A purported video of actress Kajol refusing to speak in Hindi at a Mumbai event has gone viral, leaving the internet divided over her stand.

“Ab mai Hindi mai bhi bolu kya? Jisko samajhna hai wo samajh jayega (Should I also speak in Hindi now? Those who have to understand, will understand),” she said to a reporter, who asked her to speak in Hindi, in the viral clip.

The video shows her speaking in English and Marathi.

While some applauded her for speaking Marathi, others have condemned her behaviour. “Do not speak Hindi in movies or webseries either,” commented a social media user, while another remarked, “Say this to the directors also.”

Kajol was recently honoured with the Raj Kapoor Award at the Maharashtra State Film Awards 2025, held in Mumbai.

Her comment comes at a time when language has become a hot topic of political discourse in the country. In April, the Maharashtra government passed a decision to make Hindi a compulsory third language in schools. However, the decision was later withdrawn.

In June, Union home minister Amit Shah said that those who speak in English in India will soon be ashamed. The remark was made during the launch of a book by former IAS officer Ashutosh Agnihotri.

Earlier this month, several members of the film and music fraternity in Bengal, including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srijit Mukherji, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Anupam Roy, took exception to a purported Delhi Police letter referring Bengali as the “Bangladeshi national language”, calling it an affront to a constitutionally recognised Indian language.

On the work front, Kajol will next appear in the action thriller Maharagni: Queen of Queens.