New Delhi: When Amitabh Bachchan says he "can walk Engliss", "talk Engliss", and "laugh Engliss" you tend to forgive him. Not because English is a very funny language, but his job interview with Ranjit in Namak Halal is one of most heart-warmingly amusing scenes scripted in Hindi cinema. But films like Bol Bachchan and Rowdy Rathore, milking the charisma of the hinterland hero of the 70s, have concocted a fusion of English that is as funny as a toothache.
Akshay Kumar's 'Don't angry me' got the ball rolling and Ajay Devgn's "necessity is the mother of Discovery channel" put the "last nail polish in the coffin" of the Queen's language. In fact, Bol Bachchan has set a high benchmark that makes you wonder if the intentionally silly dialogue were written by a four-year-old learning her alphabets.
Devgn's role in Bol Bachchan is that of a wrestler who wants to master the English language and staggers through mindlessly absurd phrases in the film to prove his point. Oh, his comic timing is perfect and he draws guffaws in several scenes, but he's handed jokes that have been brought out of the freezer, thawed to room temperature and served to an audience hungry for gags.
I agree that language is constantly evolving. My concern stems not so much from this deliberate mutilation of English than from its consequences. Accept the reality that people may now proudly quote "My chest has become blouse" during water cooler discussions to draw
04:55 PM, Jul 09, 2012
