Tollywood actor Rana Daggubati, who has been in the news for the past few days due to the release of his multilingual film Aranya, has also gone viral for another reason. Several netizens have been tweeting reviews and visuals from Aranya, and of course, memes. Popular entertainment magazine Filmfare shared a picture too, of a still from the move in which Rana looks dejected. Filmfare wrote, “Our reaction to the second wave of the pandemic... #RanaDagubatti.” The Baahubali fame actor reacted with a jibe at the magazine for misspelling his name, saying, "That's also my reaction every time you spell my name wrong.”
That’s also my reaction every time you spell my name wrong https://t.co/iCWGasEggE
— Rana Daggubati (@RanaDaggubati) March 25, 2021
However, misspelled and mispronounced names seem to be a universal problem. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Thoothukkudi’s Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), had earlier mentioned to TNM that some mispronunciations of her name include ‘Kaanjimoi’ and ‘Kanimori’, among others. “I think when the media does it after so many years, I do get a little irritated”, she said. Kanimozhi further mentioned that she is surprised that even politician P Chidambaram’s name is mispronounced.
Saw @RanaDaggubati's tweet on his name. This is what @KanimozhiDMK told me about people mispronouncing her name all the time and those in the media especially. pic.twitter.com/BttRh1nkV0
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) March 26, 2021
In October last year, supporters of US Vice President Kamala Harris, launched an online campaign with hashtags such as #MyNameis and #IstandwithKamala after her name was mispronounced by a Republican Senator from Georgia.
South Asian names are often mispronounced in the west, due to the lack of familiarity with the syllables and enunciation. In a senate hearing that took place in October 2020, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was addressed by the senators as ‘Mr Pick Eye’ and ‘Mr Pish Eye’.
The Telugu film Aranya, was released as Kaadan in Tamil and Haathi Mere Saathi Hindi. In this movie, Rana can be seen playing the role of Bandev, a 50-year-old man who lives in the forest and tries to save the elephant corridor. The movie was reportedly inspired by human encroachment into elephant corridors in Kaziranga, Assam.