Today is Hindi Diwas, a day to celebrate our Rajbhasha (Official language). That bhasha just happens to be Hindi and it is totally symptomatic of our sanskriti. But today, The Quint will not bore you with the history of the language or any such thing.
Instead, we’re going to tell you why the fourth most popular language in the world should be spoken by our favourite international personalities. We feel these A-listers would totally rock Hindi.
Barack Obama
Surely, this ain’t a surprise. Mr President easily tops the list of personalities we’d like to see speak in Hindi (more often). And why not? After all, Barack Obama has been SRK-nised. Don’t you remember the famous “Senorita, bade bade deshon mein...” mouthed so very handsomely by Obama?
Icing on the cake? POTUS can not only speak in Hindi but can also shake his booty to popular songs. Sir, what’s your plan post-Presidential tenure? Might we suggest a little stint in Bollywood? To quote your own words, sir, you know what we mean…
Chris Martin
Guess who’s back? Chris Martin! And this time he’s landed in Delhi with his boy band in tow. Coldplay is not here for an impromptu gig (we’re still getting over the fact that we missed it) but for a colourful video shoot. With so many Indian visits and his new circle of friends – Vishal Dadlani, Raghu Dixit, AIB and Frieda Pinto – maybe it’s time for him to sing in Hindi. And we’re sure it’s going to be Magic-al. Don’t worry Chris Martin, even if you try your best and you don’t succeed… we’ll still love you.
Richard Gere
If any phoreigner has the right to be crowned Mr India, it’s gotta be Hollywood’s darling silver fox Richard Gere. The hottie has visited India several times as an ambassador for AIDS campaigns as well as to visit Buddhist monasteries. He has not only professed his love for India but also shown his love for Indian beauties (Remember that controversial kissing fest with Shilpa Shetty?) The debonair Gere not only sipped a hot cuppa with Karan Johar on his show Koffee with Karan, but he also met Prime Minister Modi early this year. Sir, perhaps it’s time you learnt Hindi – the official language of your adopted country.
Emma Watson
The sweet, innocent Hermione Granger has now turned into a beautiful, intelligent woman, unafraid to speak her mind. Emma Watson’s powerful speech on gender equality at the United Nations during the launch of the #HeforShe initiative earned her high praise. So inspired are we that we totally believe Ms Watson should learn the Hindi bhasha and narrate the speech to the khap panchayats.
John Oliver
Satire king John Oliver sure knows a thing or two about India. At least, that’s what he’d like us to believe.
The British comedian recently took a dig at India’s temporary porn ban, ranted about the Indian General Elections and also poked fun of Narendra Modi’s visit to New York on his talk show Last Week Tonight. The hilarious entertainer would give Vir Das, AIB – even Kapil Sharma a run for their money if he started ranting in Hindi!
Here’s hoping that the funnyman’s politically incorrect rants bring about a change in the Indian stand-up comedy scenario.
William Shakespeare
Yes, yes, we know this name seems like the odd one out in the list – seeing as he isn’t alive. But if he was, we’d have loved the great playwright to learn Hindi and pen some of his masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello in Hindi bhasha.
Sure, Maqbool, Haider, Goliyan Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela were all honest attempts by their filmmakers – but just imagine how awesome it would be if the Bard himself had written of lust, love, revenge (and all that masala) in Hindi!
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