Hindi Diwas: From Hindi Medium to Pardes: Check out Bollywood films that celebrate the language

Hindi Medium

The 2017 drama features Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar in lead roles. It depicts the life of a middle-class family who in hope of increasing their social mobility tries to change their lives and realize that language and culture does not make a difference as long as quality values are ingrained within a person.

English Vinglish

The Gauri Shinde-directed movie features Sridevi as a middle-class mother who is ridiculed for her Hindi by her children and is insulted by them. In an attempt to gain their respect, she learns English but the movie showcases how the language does not make a difference to one’s personality.

Namastey London

Namastey London is a romantic comedy featuring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. They play a couple who are constantly in a rift as their social settings differ based on their language and culture. Jasmeet (Katrina Kaif) looks down upon the Hindi language and Indian culture, only to realise the shallowness of her behaviour and comes back to India.

Pardes

The 1997 Subhash Ghai directorial features Shah Rukh Khan and Mahima Choudhary. It tells the story of Ganga who hails from a small village in India and cannot speak English nor act in Western ways. She gets married to an NRI named Arjun who cannot accept her middle-class ways. The film’s song, Yeh Mera India became an all-time favourite and tells us to love our country and our language.