Film on journey of Urdu premieres in Capital
If you had any myths about the fate of the Urdu language being etched on a tombstone, then documentary film Urdu and Modern India would bury all doubts.
Prominent Urdu activist Kaamna Prasad premiered her 25-minute documentary on the state of the language over the years and its relevance in contemporary society, on Tuesday evening at India Habitat Centre.
When I set out to make this film we believed there were hardly any speakers of this language. But I was surprised to see how the youth embraced this language and were adopting it in their vocabulary in their own manner, says Prasad, who made this documentary for the Publicity Division of the External Affairs Ministry.
Shot in Urdu and English, the film is directed by Aparna Srivastava Reddy, who has been working in the field of Urdu poetry for some years and lent the film a holistic treatment. From the presence of Urdu in historical texts, music, its recitation in ghazals, literature texts, popular culture and modern day calligraphy, the film traces the journey of the language and what makes it among one of the top 20 popular languages in the world.
The film also makes a reference to how Bollywood has popularised the use of Urdu through its songs like Dard-e-Disco and dances and movie titles like Ishqiya, Khuda Ke Liye. The youth context of the language was illustrated through rock bands that sing in Urdu lyrics.
The screening, attended by an audience of academicians and language experts, was followed by a panel discussion presided over by Salman Khurshid, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs, Ashok Vajpayi, Hindi poet and Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, and Prasad. Vajpayi came up witty observations on the film. The myth that Urdu is dying has only been created by people within the Urdu-speaking population, he said, adding that the pace of the film should have been slow. There should be two versions of this film, an abridged version and a longer version because the understanding of the language takes time to absorb, he remarked.
If you had any myths about the fate of the Urdu language being etched on a tombstone, then documentary film Urdu and Modern India would bury all doubts.
Prominent Urdu activist Kaamna Prasad premiered her 25-minute documentary on the state of the language over the years and its relevance in contemporary society, on Tuesday evening at India Habitat Centre.
When I set out to make this film we believed there were hardly any speakers of this language. But I was surprised to see how the youth embraced this language and were adopting it in their vocabulary in their own manner, says Prasad, who made this documentary for the Publicity Division of the External Affairs Ministry.
Shot in Urdu and English, the film is directed by Aparna Srivastava Reddy, who has been working in the field of Urdu poetry for some years and lent the film a holistic treatment. From the presence of Urdu in historical texts, music, its recitation in ghazals, literature texts, popular culture and modern day calligraphy, the film traces the journey of the language and what makes it among one of the top 20 popular languages in the world.
The film also makes a reference to how Bollywood has popularised the use of Urdu through its songs like Dard-e-Disco and dances and movie titles like Ishqiya, Khuda Ke Liye. The youth context of the language was illustrated through rock bands that sing in Urdu lyrics.
The screening, attended by an audience of academicians and language experts, was followed by a panel discussion presided over by Salman Khurshid, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs, Ashok Vajpayi, Hindi poet and Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, and Prasad. Vajpayi came up witty observations on the film. The myth that Urdu is dying has only been created by people within the Urdu-speaking population, he said, adding that the pace of the film should have been slow. There should be two versions of this film, an abridged version and a longer version because the understanding of the language takes time to absorb, he remarked.
