Urdu cannot disappear because it has very strong roots in Persia. The language itself is not only the language of Muslims, it is also the language of Hindus. Ismail Merchant
Urdu is, in fact, a language of people who belong to many different races, religions or creeds. A significant amount of the population of India and Pakistan have argued over their languages. The people of Pakistan say it is Urdu and the people of India call it Hindi. In fact, the language is the same technically. So in Indian movies too, the language that is spoken is Urdu.
The famous Ismail Merchant rightly said: “There are some Hindi words here or there, but it’s all Urdu. I feel like if popular culture, which is what Hindi movies are, uses Urdu, it’s not going to diminish.”
However, these days the quality of the Urdu language in Indian movies is deteriorating. There is heavy use of bad words and too many incorrect pronunciations. Linguists are constantly concerned about this trend. They usually offer the following solutions to improve the quality of Urdu in Bollywood movies.
- Recruitment of competent Urdu linguists
- The quality of the scripts cannot be improved without competent scriptwriters. These days, some film directors and producers hire people who are not fluent in the Urdu language.
- Accept the influence of Sanskrit in Urdu and let go of Persian
- It is completely fine to use Hindi words in the script. It is completely understandable that Sanskrit has as much claim on the Urdu language as Persian. In fact, if we try to see with an open heart, Iran is now a separate country. However, the India and Pakistan region is still inhibited by people who have a strong association with the Sanskrit language. Therefore, it is natural that today’s Urdu language is packed with Sanskrit words, rather than Persian.
- Use dialects with strange accents only when necessary
- Some filmmakers unnecessarily put Urdu dialects with weird accents. Movies capture attention in this way. However, the common person can choose an accent that is not even authentic. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the filmmakers not to make a false dialect just for the publicity of the film.
- Actor training sessions
- Many of the contemporary actors do not know the correct use or pronunciation of the Urdu language well. This is a sorry state of affairs. These actors must be trained in grammar, style, pronunciation, and usage before they appear in movies.
- Singers training session
- Like contemporary actors, many of the contemporary singers also do not have adequate language skills. They must also be trained in the correct use of Urdu while singing the songs.
- Hiring good lyricists in Urdu
- Along with good scriptwriters, hiring good Urdu lyricists is also necessary for good quality of language in songs.