Mind your lingo

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It was supposed to be their ‘mother’ tongues, so to speak. With the advent of time and linguistic flexibility, though, Bollywood films are no longer being made in the Hindi language. Welcome hybrid speak?

They have been speaking in a heavy smattering of English. And even movie titles baffle the viewer unaccustomed to the Queen’s language. Whether it’s Bodyguard, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Mere Brother ki Dulhan, Force or Tell Me Oh Khuda (heavens!), and uh oh, there’s more: U R My Jaan, Rascals, Love Breakups Zindagi, Players and Dirty Picture. The tendency is to completely exclude viewers who aren’t English savvy, never mind if they actually comprise the bulk of the movie audience.
Throwing caution to the winds, Delhi Belly was almost entirely in English, topped by expletives which for once didn’t burn the ears of the fuddy-duddy Censor Board.
In recent decades, Gulzar and Javed Akhtar are the only lyric and dialogue writers who have assigned a degree of importance to the Hindustani language — a blend of Urdu and Hindi/Hindustani — in which the Bombay-produced films have traditionally spoken. However, of late they too have opted for Hinglish, particularly in their lyrics, defending themselves with the excuse that this is the ‘sign of the times’. Indeed? Big city moviegoers may be partial to English but small town viewers are certainly not.
The English bias can be explained partly by the boom, sparked in the 1990s, for Bollywood cinema among the NRIs settled all over the world. Of late, though, the overseas market has been fluctuating, leaving quite a few ‘upmarket’ filmmakers flummoxed. Whom are they designing their films for? Ask them that and they dart the expression of blank slates. And to think there was a time when a single throw of a line of dialogue from jaani Raaj Kumar and the arre-o Amjad Khan had audiences asking for more, much more.
Be that as it may, the diction of actors has become largely laughable. Most actors, like John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan, appear to have trouble in handling a single line of dialogue delivery. So even as your ears jangle with the massacre of the Hindustani language in the Bollywood movies, your respect mounts for the few artistes who have cared for and at least sought to preserve the purity of movie dialoguebaazi.

Here’s saluting the top 12 living movie personalities who have sought to mind their language:

Dilip Kumar: No one can touch Yusuf saab for pronunciation, modulation and those deafening pauses which were more expressive than a thousand words.
You must hear him in: Uran Khatola, Amar, Devdas... actually practically everything he acted in.

Amitabh Bachchan: He picked a trick or two from Dilip Kumar and evolved his own distinct, baritone style... outstanding particularly during those angry young days. Too much of going haiiiiinh-haiiiinh now.
You must hear him in: Deewar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chupke Chupke, Agneepath, Kaun Banega Crorepati shows.

Rekha: Knows her Urdu inflections perfectly... a cool voice...
Terrific at accents and dictions.
Considered the Best Dubbing Artiste. It is believed that the tricks of the diction trade were taught to her by Mr Bachchan. Applause please!
You must hear her in: Umrao Jaan, Muqaddar ka Sikandar.

Shabana Azmi: Dramatic, home-bred in Urdu, adept at pitching dialogue to just the right level.
You must hear her in: Arth, Mandi, practically everything she acts in.

Tabu: Understated, underplayed and yet gets every nuance of the language spot-on. Also outstanding in Telugu.
You must hear her in: Maachis, Astitva.

Govinda: Despite his tendency to go crazily colloquial, he’s excellent in Hindi dialogue, now if only he got screenplay writers who wouldn’t make chutney of his zubaan.
You must hear him in: In snatches from his movies... in recent times, Partner is his best.

Ajay Devgn: Cool, correct pronunciation and fluent.
You must hear him in: Phool aur Kaante, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Company, Singham.

Shah Rukh Khan: Has the Delhi lehza. Initially had the trademark stutter k..k..k..k but dispensed that to give shape to each one of his words.
You must hear him in: Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Chak De! India, Rab ne Bana di Jodi.

Aamir Khan: Effortless, at home in pronunciation and diction... can be tops in street smart stuff too (Rangeela).
You must hear him in: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Rangeela, Raja Hindustani, Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots, practically every film he has acted in.

Run for cover: They need language and diction lessons. Hema Malini (still), Katrina Kaif (she tried to get it somewhat right in Rajneeti, but in vain), Priyanka Chopra, Urmila Matondkar, Lara Dutta (ewwww types), Kareena Kapoor (too la-di-duh), Saif Ali Khan (sounds like Himesh Reshammiya on a bad day), Kajol (hyyyyyyyysterical, eats up words), Abhishek Bachchan (dubbing studio engineer’s nightmare), Aishwarya Rai (much too sing-song), Asin (is that her voiiiice?) and Bipasha Basu (can’t get it right unless she has one or two simple lines to say).