Keeravani, The Name Beyond Boundaries

Back when the Telangana movement was at its peak in the erstwhile pre-2014 Andhra Pradesh, activists heavily criticized the dominance of Andhra personalities in the film industry, accusing them of monopolising Telugu cinema.

Sometimes, few even attacked film crews at shoot. A decade later, just when we thought that those days of discrimination were well behind us, another unpleasant disagreement involving veteran music composer MM Keeravani emerged recently.

The Revanth Reddy administration recently entrusted the responsibility of composing the Telangana state anthem to Keeravani garu. This move was met with criticism from The Telangana Musicians Association, who wrote a letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, condemning this decision.

They criticized this decision on the grounds of Keeravani’s Andhra identity, thus suggesting that this opportunity should have ideally gone to a Telangana-origin musician. The letter questions the Revanth Reddy government, asking them what is the point of giving an opportunity to an Andhrite while the Telangana state was formed so that more opportunities can be given to Telanganites.

While their demands sound reasonable at one level, criticizing Keeravani, who has made the entire Telugu populace proud with his national and international accolades, is totally uncalled for.

Demands like these are also problematic for the way they look at people through separate identities, instead of recognising and celebrating the shared heritage of Telugu-speaking people. Stalwarts like MM Keeravani don’t just belong to all Telugu people, but also all Indians.