IFFI 2018: Between misplaced pride over 'national language' and fear of getting lost in translation

There is a reason why IFFI 2018 is International Film Festival of India and not 'Hindi' and the day three of the ongoing movie gala saw the organisers grappling with finding a meeting point for those who know and do not know English.

The bone of contention was that since people and delegates from different countries had come to attend the "international" festival, it was logical that English be used to express one's ideas.

At IFFI 2018's 'Redefining Stories' session on Thursday, one of the audience members objected to the moderator, cinematographer Aseem Bajaj using Hindi as the medium of speech.

To which actor Pankaj Tripathi, who was part of the panel, quickly interjected in Hindi, "Uska kya jisko English nahin aati".

Fellow panellist actor Rahul Bose made light of the discussion and said "I can speak in English, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi and Hindi. We can take a vote."
This was followed by an audience member saying: "You are known by Hindi films, please talk in Hindi."
The audience member who strongly reacted to Tripathi earlier, dug his heels harder with continuous "No's."
Soon another audience member got hold of the microphone and she said, "I am from Korea, please speak in English."
Tripathi said, "If I speak in Hindi, someone please translate for those who can't understand."
The audience member then said, "You are wearing jeans and all, you should be knowing English."
To this Tripathi replied, "The age in which we learn a language, I was not that privileged to be able to wear jeans and do that."
The actor said his piece in Hindi when he got the chance: "Main yahan baitha hoon apni story sunane 'Redefining Stories' mein. Ye apne aap mein redefining hai ki main baitha hoon aur aap sun rahe hain."
Someone from the audience objected to Jaffery speaking in Hindi. That it's an international festival speak in English. To which a stern Jaffery said, "Hindi is our 'rashtra bhasha' and I will speak in it."
Amid lots of questions and interruptions, Boney Kapoor tried to assuage the angry crowd, saying "I will speak in Hindi and also translate in English."