The title of the new Telugu film Idupu Kayitam (ఇడుపు కాయితం) has triggered an entirely avoidable controversy. For many in Telangana, the title is perfectly ordinary. Idupu Kayitam means exactly what vidakulu (విడాకులు) means elsewhere – divorce.
Yet, social media has predictably split into camps. One insists the title is ‘wrong Telugu’. The other is left wondering: since when did fellow speakers become language police?
No language belongs to a single district. No dialect carries a government seal declaring it the only authentic version.
When one dialect became the ‘standard’
For far too long, the Telugu spoken in Telangana was treated as an object of ridicule. Mainstream Telugu cinema played no small part in this.
The Telangana dialect was assigned to villains, buffoons, sidekicks, servants and comic characters. Heroes invariably spoke what was projected as ‘standard’ Telugu – a version largely identified with the coastal districts.
It was a subtle but persistent message. One dialect sounded educated; the other sounded rustic.
Things began changing after the formation of Telangana in 2014. The dialect found its rightful place in mainstream cinema. Heroes began speaking it naturally. Filmmakers realised that authenticity resonates better than artificial uniformity. Audiences, too, embraced it without hesitation.
Ironically, just when Telugu cinema has started celebrating linguistic diversity, a film title has become the subject of needless outrage.
Who decides what is ‘correct’?
The real issue is not Idupu Kayitam. It is the belief that my Telugu is correct and yours is not. That belief has no place in a language as vast as Telugu.
Ask someone in Srikakulam to converse with someone from Anantapur. Listen to Telugu in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nizamabad.
The vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm and idioms change every few hundred kilometres. Kottu (కొట్టు), dukaanam (దుకాణం) and angadi (అంగడి) all refer to a shop. None is wrong. They merely belong to different regions.
Dialects are not corruptions of a language. They are the language itself, shaped by geography, history and culture.
The richness of diversity
Scholar and orator Garikapati Narasimha Rao has often argued that the Telangana dialect preserves several ancient Telugu forms, while the Telugu spoken in coastal Andhra has absorbed greater Sanskrit influence.
Whether or not every linguist agrees with that assessment is beside the point. His observation reminds us that no dialect is inherently superior or inferior. Each has evolved under different historical influences.
Languages themselves are great borrowers. Telugu has welcomed words from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Persian, Urdu, and English over the centuries. Nobody objects to saying kagitam (కాగితం), sircaru (సర్కారు), kitiki (కిటికీ), railu (రైలు) or bussu (బస్సు). Yet, when a regional Telugu word appears in a film title, some suddenly become guardians of linguistic purity.
Let Telugu speak in every voice
Perhaps what needs correcting is not the title but the attitude. Regional dialects preserve folklore, humour, idioms and history. They keep alive words that textbooks often ignore. They are not deviations from Telugu; they are Telugu.
Isupu kayitam and vidakulu mean the same thing. The meaning is identical. Only the expression changes.
Instead of arguing over whether a film title is correct, let us celebrate the fact that Telugu can speak in many accents without losing its identity.
A language flourishes not by enforcing uniformity but by embracing the diversity of its own voices.
