8 The Linguist Vol/65 No/3
ciol.org.uk/thelinguist
FEATURES
Lakshmi-Raj Jesa considers the complicated relationship
between the Indian film industry and the Hindi language
W
ith around 345 million native
speakers and over 260 million
second language speakers, Hindi
is the third most spoken language in the
world. In India, its dominance is largely due
to the country's post-independence
language policy, which acknowledged Hindi
as an official language alongside English.
The Bollywood film industry is heavily
entwined with Hindi, to the extent that it is
almost impossible to experience one without
experiencing the other. Indeed, whether
Hindi speakers learn the language formally
(through instruction) or informally (through
natural exposure), it would be reasonable to
surmise that they have all been influenced in
their learning by Bollywood.
The films are deeply entrenched in the lives
of Indian people; our actions, appearances
and politics are all shaped by them.
Knowledge of the films often provides insights
into Hindi expressions one might hear in India.
Phrases such as 'Picture abhi baaki hai mere
dost', meaning metaphorically 'there is still
more to come', from the 2007 film Om Shanti
Om, are regularly used in conversations.
Bollywood has infused the language with
life and vice versa. Some of the most powerful
moments in Indian cinema have been fuelled
by Hindi words, which in themselves have
become cultural catchphrases. Another
example is the line 'Bade bade deshon mein
aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hai' ('In big
countries, these small things happen') from the
1990s classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Bollywood is not only a central part of
Indian life, it is also a globally recognised
phenomenon. For a long time, when people
around the world thought of Indian cinema,
they thought immediately of Bollywood, and
only of Bollywood. The industry produces
around 1,000 Hindi films annually.
1
While the
Indian diaspora is the largest overseas
audience, films such as Baahubali (2015) have
been incredibly popular with audiences who
aren't of Indian origin too.
A growing interest in Hindi
In 2024, around 8.4 million people around the
world were learning Hindi via the language-
learning app Duolingo.
2
It would be difficult to
estimate how many have learned Hindi from
watching Bollywood films, but educationists,
teachers and learners often cite Bollywood as
one of the main reasons for studying Hindi,
particularly among international students.
Anecdotal evidence suggests Bollywood
inspires people to learn, motivates them
while they learn and reinforces their learning.
It has produced millions of passive learners,
who pick up common greetings such as
namaste and shukriya through the films, and
although this sort of exposure does not
necessarily achieve the fluency that might be
gained through formal learning, Bollywood
provides a gateway to learning the language.
Powered by Bollywood
