Looks like actors from down South are looking to increase their reach by making appearances in popular Hindi television shows. To quote recent examples, actor Vikram appeared on Bigg Boss 8, along with Salman Khan to promote his film I. But when he was asked to speak a few words, the star stuttered and fumbled, unable to manage a few words in the language.
Rana Daggubati too made an appearance with his co-actors on Comedy Nights with Kapil to promote Baby. When asked to speak, the actor chose to rattle off a string of Telugu words, refusing to communicate in Hindi, stating he wasn’t comfortable with the language.
Now, the latest we hear is that Dhanush will be presenting himself on Comedy Nights with Kapil in an upcoming episode to promote his film Shamitabh.
Given from past experiences, what would be the outcome of that? What we fail to understand is why these actors would want to make an appearance on shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, which caters to a completely Hindi-speaking audience while the actors themselves speak a smattering of Hindi? We dig deeper into this language conundrum.
Riyaz Khan, who shared screen space with Aamir Khan in the Hindi remake of runaway hit flick Ghajini, asserts that a command over the language will help. He says, “My expertise in Hindi came in handy while dubbing for Ghajini.
A knowledge of the language is important while attending events up north, if we want to create a market penetration there. If not fluent, it will be good if one can at least communicate.”
Actor Prashanth opines that even if not for a film promotion’s purpose, fluency in a language is always helpful for actors. “It’s always an asset for actors to know a language. Especially, for film promotions when actors get opportunity to interact with fans and audiences, an ability to pick up languages is an added advantage.”
Regular movie-goers too seem to share the same perspective. An ardent movie buff C. K. Mohammed says, “Actors like Shah Rukh Khan can easily attract fans over here just by mouthing few Tamil words like Vanakkam, Thalaivaa, considering his pan Indian popularity. Our stars too should pull up their socks when they are up North. I remember Dhanush wasn’t at ease during the promotion of Raanjhanaa.
But now, he seems to have gained confidence. Kamal Haasan spoke in chaste Hindi during the promotion of Vishwaroopam’s Hindi version. We need more actors like him.”
However, there are people who believe that in the end it is the film’s content that would speak. Actress Aditi Chengappa who has been part of several South industries, though agrees that knowing Hindi would help in interacting with people, she also doesn’t hesitate to say that it isn’t mandatory.
“Speaking in Hindi while promoting a film in cities like Mumbai and Delhi will definitely be an advantage. The audience over there will appreciate the effort. But what is the point if we speak Hindi fluently and the film flops?” she laughs and adds, “So, I don’t think it’s a must for actors, but yes, if they can pull it off and the movie is a well made one then the end result would be great.”
