New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh minister Gudivada Amarnath on Wednesday (January 11, 2023) slammed singer Adnan Sami after the latter lashed out at Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for Telugu flag flying high message on SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster movie ‘RRR’ clinching the Golden Globes award in the best original song category for the track ‘Naatu Naatu’. Amarnath, Andhra’s Industries, Infrastructure and Information Technology Minister, told Sami that he is no one to pass judgment on their patriotism.
“We are proud of our language, our culture and our identity. And I proclaim again, WE ARE TELUGU. Adnan Sami, you are no one to pass judgement on our patriotism,” he said in a tweet.
“My pride in being Telugu does not take away from my identity as an Indian,” the minister added.
His reaction came after Adnan Sami took a dig at CM Reddy over his congratulatory message to team ‘RRR’.
We are proud of our language, our culture and our identity.
And I proclaim again, WE ARE TELUGU. @AdnanSamiLive, you are no one to pass judgement on our patriotism.
My pride in being Telugu does not take away from my identity as an Indian. https://t.co/Z6ldHw94hh
— Gudivada Amarnath (@gudivadaamar) January 11, 2023
Taking to his official Twitter account, Reddy had written, “The Telugu flag is flying high! On behalf of all of Andhra Pradesh, I congratulate MM Keeravaani, SS Rajamouli, Jr NTR, Ram Charan and the entire team of RRR Movie. We are incredibly proud of you!”
The #Telugu flag is flying high! On behalf of all of #AndhraPradesh, I congratulate @mmkeeravaani, @ssrajamouli, @tarak9999, @AlwaysRamCharan and the entire team of @RRRMovie. We are incredibly proud of you! #GoldenGlobes2023 https://t.co/C5f9TogmSY
— YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (@ysjagan) January 11, 2023
Replying to the tweet, Adnan Sami, who became an Indian citizen in 2016, said, “Telugu flag? You mean INDIAN flag right? We are Indians first & so kindly stop separating yourself from the rest of the country…Especially internationally, we are one country! This `separatist` attitude is highly unhealthy as we saw in 1947!!! Thank you…Jai HIND!”
Earlier on Wednesday, “Naatu Naatu”, the fun number from the “RRR”, danced its way to a Golden Globe as the ‘best original song-motion picture’. The popular song, which beat the likes of Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Lady Gaga to win the coveted award, is the first time that an Indian production has won a Golden Globe.
“RRR” had also been nominated in the ‘best picture-non English’ category but lost out to Argentina’s historical drama ‘Argentina, 1985’.