I watched the film Ramchand Pakistani, which depicts the lives of a Pakistani Hindu Dalit community in the Thar desert for much of the film. The film is excellent, and I highly recommend it. The film takes some narrative liberties for entertainment purposes, but basically tells the true story of a Hindu Dalit Pakistani father and young son who were captured and imprisoned for 4 years in India for accidentally crossing the India/Pakistan border. A critical look is taken at how the case is (NOT) dealt with by both Indian and Pakistani official administration with special consideration of the low-caste minority religious status of the pair. The central female character, a woman who lost both her husband and son, goes through very difficult lengths to survive and stay sane. Her side story was especially thought provoking.
Among other thoughts I had on this film, my mind also wanders towards language issues.
The film is in Hindi and Urdu. One point I noted was that for some reason, the actors who portrayed the Sindhi Thar resident Dalits used “mereko” in place of “mujhe.” The film makers could not use authentic actors from that particular community because they probably don’t exist, and the well known Pakistani (and one Indian) actors who played the members of that community just spoke in Urdu for the sake of ease of both themselves and the intended film-going audience. So the native language of that community was not used at all. I have no idea what language that would be anyway, but it is most definately not Urdu (some dialect of Sindhi, Cholistani?). For whatever reason, the film makers seemed to think it more authentic to have the Thar residents say “mereko.” Any speculation as to why? Does that make them seem more authentically Dalit or perhaps more Hindu from a Pakistani perspective?
The film also depicted Indian soldiers and an Indian prison, and it was interesting to see some of the Pakistani cast members affect faux Hindi accents in their Urdu. One actress in particular made a strong attempt at Bombay style Hindi since her character was supposed to be from Bombay. The main character in the film, young Ramchand, spends four years in an Indian prison, and viewers witness his Urdu (which the real Ramchand probably didn’t speak, or at least didn’t speak well) turning into some dialect of Hindi common to uneducated speakers. The actor who played the 12 year old Ramchand did an excellent job at that accent.
Anyhow, I am just rambling about my impressions of the underlying linguistic issues in the film. Most people who are not huge nerds like me will just sit back and watch and enjoy. It is outrageous that so many people, including children on both sides of the border have suffered due to political issues which have very little to do with them. The message of the film is very strong, and will hopefully serve as a factor in raising awareness about the issue of innocent Indian and Pakistani political prisoners whose capture was just a stroke of bad luck; a fisher man’s boat drifting too far, a camel caravan traipsing on the wrong desert, or a boy chasing a toy across a line in the sand. Such public awareness could do a lot towards the freedom of those people. When the film reaches a theatre near you, do check it out.
December 27, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Fully agree with you. Ultimately we common people’s lives must be taken care of. What use of politics if it can only bring misery and hardship. Hope the current trouble not only just blows over but a new chapter in the building of two wonderful countries opens. Two me India and Pak are siblings who should just stop fighting.
December 28, 2008 at 11:47 am
I always pick that kind of stuff out in Spanish. Like when Enrique Iglesias was in the Once Upon a Time in Mexico and he was supposed to be Mexican he totally just spoke spanish with a Spain accent. It kind of ticked me off, but then again who was I to think Enrique could actually act?
I do it in TV shows as well, when they have Spanish-speaking characters. Like Prison break when they were in the Panamanian prison. I don’t think very many of them spoke in Panamanian accents.
In English is pisses me off to the point of walking out of a movie if the storyline is say about a group of Russians and all of the English speaking people affect “Russian” accents when in reality they wouldn’t have been speaking English with each other anyway.
That kind of stuff bothers me and I notice it as well.
December 28, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Yes Prison Break had my ears ringing,too. Most of the Panamenyos were Mexicans, and the Puerto-Rican guy has a Tia who lives in rural Mexico??? Plus, in the show they made it like his thick borinquenio accent wouldn’t turn heads and arouse suspicions in Mexico!!! I really liked that show, but a lot of the racial dynamics bothered the hell out of me. I can’t take fake Southern accents either—so many movies have characters who are all supposed to be from the same region (even siblings), but one sounds Georgian and the other Texan and the other is just plain fakin it. And as I types the above post I was thinking about how in most Hollywood movies, foreign characters speak to each other in broken accented English rather than their own language to dumb everything down for us. So I was just noting that in this Pakistani movie, language policy even in a little film always has a lot of meaning.
April 18, 2013 at 8:23 pm
And as it is not a disease of itself it does not necessarily
need to be treated. Topical insecticide flea and tick products in particular, increase the risks of cancer in both pets, according
to research conducted by Larry T. Used in detecting abnormality in the thyroid including thyroid disease.
April 27, 2013 at 7:45 pm
Being a teenage girl at this point in time is not an easy task.
There is only one finer teacher than you are, and that is life experience itself.
Some parents would automatically begin to praise and do it
behind the “you did your best and that’s all that counts” shield.