The Indian English accent: Does it Crossover in Cinema?
Preface: This is not about being patriotic, or about having a complex. This is about a Director looking to make successful “Made in India” English films that do not compromise ‘presence’.
Chapter1: NFLX / AMZN and DIS have come to India with sizable budgets to create originals. At least one of them, NFLX has stated they want their content investments to cross over successfully. Are current Indian English originals ensuring QC in this regard? There’s a difference between a “stylized” film like say the Netflix orig: Chopsticks (video below) where the female lead is meant to have the accent she has, versus what I see in the trailer (above)for the upcoming “Guilty”.
(above: trailer of Chopsticks)
Chapter 2: Actors need to invest — in themselves. Bollywood is notorious for slipshod work. From embellishing history, to over the top acting. Imo, there are the greats — Amitabh Bachchan, Naseerudin Shah who pronounce and enunciate well, and have their own on-screen presence to deliver convincing English driven narratives. The question is:
Are the current slew of actors invested enough for International recognition? Or, are we still making movies primarily with a Bollywood footprint in mind?
Chapter 3: As an upcoming Director (I’m looking to create hard scifi stories) I’d certainly want to cast actors who are invested in all aspects of their craft. An example? Dev Patel. Convincing Indian English in The Man who knew Infinity. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Jeremy Irons.
Then in Lion (video, below) — the “best” Australian English accent according to Mashable. He’s also the star of Slumdog Millionaire.
How many of his contemporaries come to mind from India? This is an open question.
Chapter 4: QC for Indian Stories in English: Check the trailer at the start of this essay from a ‘will-this-crossover’, perspective.
At 1:05–1:07 the English is poised, well enunciated, immersive. Problems arise at 1:23–1:28, including the male actor’s ‘rolling syllables’ in a single (O.S) line at 1:26 “what are you hiding”. This shows actors might benefit from articulation and voice training. It’s also a reminder to Casting Directors.
It’s especially a call to Directors, to understand — today they are creating for an international audience.
More on that in a crucial chapter, next.
Chapter5: Context and Presence: I’m fortunate to have honed skills to think and visualize scenes in 3D. By that I mean, when filming a scene, and because thus far I’ve been working in stereoscopic 3D (fancy word for when you wear 3D glasses at movies) and VR, I’m accustomed to thinking of the camera — even in regular filmmaking — as the main audience member. Of the need for immersing him/her in the scene; making them belong and identify with the characters and environment. That — in simple terms, is ‘presence’.
Most important, is Context:
In a movie such as “Guilty” the premise is metro life in India. A lifestyle that college going America (and England, and Australia and even cosmo-melting pots like Dubai) identify with; Grunge looks, inked bodies, Valentines day, rock ‘n roll…
Here’s where the problem is. (a) The film has to cross over as it’s a Netflix film. (b) Immersion for an international audience.
In a film like Slumdog Millionaire even if the actors speak English the way they do, the ‘presence’ (urban/slums) sets the tone and context for suspending the feeling of disbelief. In the upcoming movie, Guilty, going by the trailer, which showcases a predominantly westernized lifestyle influenced story… does it allow for the suspension of disbelief for an international audience.
Accent, thus, plays a crucial part.
The argument that this is the way metro India speaks English does not hold water — These originals on Netflix are to introduce an international audience to the fact (in this story) that India’s metro teens/YA are on the same page as their counterparts and possibly — even trendsetters- Why not? To pull it off cinematically, it needs every bit of effort to suspend the feeling of disbelief.
While Doodh (dude) or Bro or the newer flavor, “Bruh” might have made its way to young-India, the way it’s pronounced might fly in cities like Mumbai, Del, Calcutta — The way it’s delivered in a film [we don’t know yet if in Guilty] when presented to an international audience should at the very least, not pull audiences out of the story.
Emotion and language when enacted for camera, are deeply tied to each other. What comes across as authentic in one language can feel a little ‘off’ to non-vernacular audiences.
[Acting skill also plays a part, yes] Case in point, at 1:45 in the trailer of Guilty. These are nuances that contribute to successful international caliber *contemporary* storytelling, originating from India.
Living in Dubai, I find myself constantly modulating and seguing between accents when speaking to Arabs, to Asians and of course, Westerners. One needs to, for the sake of legibility and more importantly, bonhomie. To non native English speakers, even more so.
Do I have an Indian slant to my accent — to an extent, yes — and I do speak on-stage at conferences to an international audience, so should be paying heed to my own advice.
However, unlike a live seminar, in filmmaking, I’d have the luxury to cut the scene at 1:23–1:28 and do retakes to get fast paced English delivery more legible while maintaining presence.
Narcos crossed over just fine — it was in Spanish. I would 100% vouch for pure Hindi over badly accented English delivery. Take Netflix’s “Jamtara” for instance. At least for the 1st and 2nd episode (which I’ve watched so far) it was native language- no jumping the gun mid sentence or a sentence later to English and thus, made it immersive. I actually thought the acting was good for once!
— Again, as a reminder — the upcoming Guilty, is presenting a contemporary metro-life story in English, to an international audience, so as to suspend their feeling of disbelief. (yes, I’ve used the phrase four times)
Crazy Rich Asians crossed over well — even if it was a Hollywood production. Slumdog Millionaire did too. What lessons can we learn from these directors?
When an Indian rock n roll band sings an original composition of theirs in English, you are immersed. One can’t tell if it’s Sting or Pentagram (video, below) That song has every chance of a shot at the Grammys.
This should be the benchmark for immersion (and context) Indian English filmed entertainment should hold — as the lowest bar setting — for stories from India; made for the world.
Will upcoming actors in India be willing to go the extra mile to upgrade their voice acting for an International audience?
Will Directors unlearn the years of lazy storytelling, now that billions of dollars are earmarked for original Indian films — and a ready international platform delivered on a silver platter (Nflx/Amz)
It’s time an original English language film made in India wins an Oscar. Korea did it with an original all Korean language story with subtitles.
Let’s not use “Hinglish” as an excuse for saying “we are like this only”.
As I look forward to creating films, the notes above are as much, to me, a personal reminder in a quest for excellence.
