{
  "id": 16493544,
  "title": "Javed Akhtar Corrects Himself After Calling Rashmika Mandanna A 'Tamil' Actor While Defending Her Against Trolling Over Hindi Accent; Netizens React",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/25/javed-akhtar-corrects-himself-after-calling-rashmika-mandanna-a-tamil",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-25T15:12:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/javed-akhtar-corrects-himself-after-calling-rashmika-mandanna-a-tamil-actor-while-defending-her-against-trolling-over-hindi-accent-netizens-react"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar faced backlash on social media after mistakenly referring to Rashmika Mandanna as a Tamil actress while defending her against online trolling over her Hindi accent. Netizens pointed out that Mandanna is actually a Kannadiga, hailing from Coorg in Karnataka and having worked in multiple South Indian film industries. Akhtar later acknowledged his mistake, responding with \"I stand corrected.\"",
  "summary": "Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar faced criticism on social media after referring to Rashmika Mandanna as a Tamil actor while defending her against online trolling over her Hindi accent. Although his post called out people for looking down on others because of their language, users pointed out that the actress is Kannadiga. Akhtar later acknowledged the correction, replying, \"I stand…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}