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RASHMIKA MAY BE A TOP BOLLYWOOD STAR. BUT KODAVAS (COORG) LOVE SANDALWOOD STAR PREMA

By P.T. Bopanna

The controversy sparked by actress Rashmika Mandanna by her statement that she was the first from Coorg to become a film actress has not gone down well with the microscopic minority community of Coorgs (Kodavas) hailing from Karnataka.

Rashmika, the leading pan India actress with a bunch of mega hit films to her credit, should be given the benefit of doubt as what she may have intended to say in the course of her interview with Burka Dutt was that she was the first to make a successful career in Bollywood.

Prema (in picture) enjoys huge goodwill among the average Kodavas because she was the first Kodava to taste success in the film industry. Though Kodava society may not value actresses as much as their sportspersons and army officers, Prema had a special place in the community, more so because she was free from controversies and scandals that is so common in the film industry.

While Rashmika created a buzz in the Kodava community with her hit debut movie Kirik Party in Kannada released in 2016, her engagement to Rakshit Shetty, the lead character in Kirik Party, a Bunt from the coastal region, upset the Kodavas.

Though Kodavas are a well evolved lot, there is a bit of clannishness in the community because of their small numbers, estimated to be a little over one lakh people. Marrying outside the community is not well taken, especially by the hard-core sections of Kodavas.

Though her engagement to Rakshit did not last long, from that time onwards her place in the community has taken a different trajectory.

Rashmika has been in the crosshairs of Kannada language fanatics due to her innocuous statements which are taken out of the context by these language fanatics, mainly to gain publicity.

She was targeted by a section of the film industry following her statement that she was yet to watch the blockbuster Kantara film anchored by Rishab Shetty, the director of Kirik Party. Her statement was not well received and it was being pointed out that she got her break in the film industry because of the Shettys and she was being ‘ungrateful’.

Rashmika’s rumoured romantic link up with her Telugu film co-star Vijay Deverakonda has not been taken well by the hard-core Kodavas.

Of late, the saffronised Kodavas are angry because of her ‘closeness’ to Salman Khan, a Muslim.

On the other hand, there is immense love and respect in Kodava community for Neravanda Chetticha Prema, aged 48, who ruled the Kannada film industry in the 90s and early 2000s.

Post her marriage in 2006 to Jeevan Appachu, a Kodava, she cut down her film assignments. Her marriage ended in divorce around 2016.

Amid her failed marriage, there were also rumours about her health which left her Kodava fans worried. She is the only film actress who has won the hearts of her Kodava community.