Weeks After Google's 'Ugliest' Language Row, Kannada Icon Rajkumar's Pic Blunder Irks Fans

Weeks after Google attracted major outrage after the search engine termed Kannada as the “ugliest language of India,” the search engine stirred another backlash after putting the image of Kannada matinee actor Dr Rajkumar listed in the cast of a Tamil movie ‘Vikram Veda.’

The actor’s picture appears for a character named ‘Half Boil’ played by another actor of the same name in the Kollywood movie ‘Vikram Vedha’ starring R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi.

Fans have claimed that Rajkumar’s listing under the Tamil movie is misleading and humiliates the status quo of the beloved actor. Some Kannada actors have also sought action to set the record straight.

Actor Rishab Shetty in a tweet said, “On the Google page of Tamil movie ‘Vikram Vedha’ our Dr Rajkumar’s photo has been put up in place of some one (Half Boil). I request everyone to report it to Google, let the mistake be rectified.”

Actor P D Sathish Chandra too, has made a similar appeal.

Dr Rajkumar popularly known as “Annavru” is considered a cultural icon in Karnataka, and is a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke Award among several others.

Google had removed its search result for the ugliest language incident after it faced criticism and tendered an apology saying the search result did not reflect its opinion.

A Google spokesperson had then said: “search isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, the way content is described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries.”

“We know this is not ideal, but we take swift corrective action when we are made aware of an issue and are continually working to improve our algorithms. Naturally, these are not reflective of the opinions of Google, and we apologise for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments.”

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