Tigmanshu Dhulia, the screen play writer for Dil Se, is encouraging the use of Urdu in dialogues. Dhulia feels that film dialogues are just not getting to the heart of emotion anymore.
He recently told the Times of India, “…Today, there is so much use of English language in films… (it seems) the writer doesn’t know how to write, also emotion does not come out in English dialogues,”
Dhulia is leading by example. His film Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster is critically acclaimed with immaculate dialogue and narration. He is still setting the scene by giving importance to dialogues with his next film, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns which is due for release on March the 8th. According to TOI, not only will we see Jimmy Shergill and Mahie Gill from Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, but Irrfan Khan and Soha Ali Khan too.
What’s interesting is that Urdu has historically been a major part of Hindi films. Think of Mughal-e-Azam for example. Jyotika Virdi, an Associate Professor at the University of Windsor, Canada, talks about the use of Urdu in her book ‘The Cinematic ImagiNation: Social history through Indian popular films’. She comments: “Urdu is often used in film titles, screenplay, lyrics, the language of love, war, and martyrdom.’ However, Urdu is beginning to disappear from films as she adds, “…the decline of Urdu is mirrored in Hindi films… It is true that many Urdu words have survived and have become part of Hindi cinema’s popular vocabulary. But that is as far as it goes.”
Dhulia’s comment to TOI, “It’s better to make the entire film in English or in our language where Urdu should be used,” is not only encouraging emotion but a return to the good old days: “Isn’t it good if it (the time of good dialogues) comes back?…” asks Dhulia.
