Watched an Indian movie with my sis tonight. Just for kicks. The movie was Gangster: A Love Story. It was completely in Hindustani, with no subtitles. This is the 3rd or 4th such movie we’ve watched without subtitles. It was a lot of fun really.
Initially, it wasn’t by choice. The understanding we had with the Indian grocery store owner was for him to recommend movies with English subtitles, since we don’t understand Hindustani. I think he forgot we weren’t Indians–a hard thing for one to forget, really. But who knows how the mind works?
That last time we invested in 4 movies (instead of the usual 2). We came home and, alas! None of them had English subtitles and we were forced to deduce the plot from the acting.
So we watched Gangster tonight. It’s very well shot, actually. Indian movies have come such a long way from those that were aired on Kenyan TV in the 80s and 90s. They still tend to be very dramatic…lots of music, lots of dancing, exaggerated emotions.
Tonight, I’ve gained an appreciation for the story as told through gestures, body language, and facial expressions. I had a grand, old time interpreting the dialogue for my sister. It made for some really good laughs. And then I realized how much I treasure dialogue in movies…and in life. Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, I would have given much to know what the actors were saying to each other at crucial points in the movie.
A toast to Bollywood!
