two days back, i was watching rang de basanti on television...
now don't start thinking that i am gonna start off on the topic of the state of our society, revolution etc...that is for another day and an other time...(not to devalue its importance...though now its just reduced to and limited to times of drunken discussions and idle contemplations)...
well...getting back to what i was talking about...
i was watching the movie on star movies...now that the global channels are focusing on local markets...they have started local transmissions and schedules, and air area specific movies too...and since its an english channel they have subtitles in english...
thats what i am getting at...the subtitles...
have u ever seen the english subtitles for indian movies...they are exact, word to word translation of each dialog...its as if they have put all the script into a language translator and pasted the result on to the screen...and we are left wondering...if we should be amazed at their vocabulary skills, pity their laziness or get disgusted with the nonsense...
yes the sentences make perfect sense if you look at them individually...the meaning is right...on a sentence to sentence basis...but if u compare it with what the scene intends to portray...its not even close...it takes away the emotion from the actions happening on the screen...
these things are not new...it has been happening since many years...now who is to blame for it?...are the movie makers dumb?...is there such a lack of english speaking people...who can understand the regional or national language too...who can translate and make good subtitles...not as each sentence in the script goes...but as the scene intends!?!...
not that we have made many extraordinary movies...but how can we expect to win accolades across the world...if we cant even communicate the meaning of the movie properly?
now don't start thinking that i am gonna start off on the topic of the state of our society, revolution etc...that is for another day and an other time...(not to devalue its importance...though now its just reduced to and limited to times of drunken discussions and idle contemplations)...
well...getting back to what i was talking about...
i was watching the movie on star movies...now that the global channels are focusing on local markets...they have started local transmissions and schedules, and air area specific movies too...and since its an english channel they have subtitles in english...
thats what i am getting at...the subtitles...
have u ever seen the english subtitles for indian movies...they are exact, word to word translation of each dialog...its as if they have put all the script into a language translator and pasted the result on to the screen...and we are left wondering...if we should be amazed at their vocabulary skills, pity their laziness or get disgusted with the nonsense...
yes the sentences make perfect sense if you look at them individually...the meaning is right...on a sentence to sentence basis...but if u compare it with what the scene intends to portray...its not even close...it takes away the emotion from the actions happening on the screen...
these things are not new...it has been happening since many years...now who is to blame for it?...are the movie makers dumb?...is there such a lack of english speaking people...who can understand the regional or national language too...who can translate and make good subtitles...not as each sentence in the script goes...but as the scene intends!?!...
not that we have made many extraordinary movies...but how can we expect to win accolades across the world...if we cant even communicate the meaning of the movie properly?
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2 comments:
That makes me wonder, when watching a foreign film, am i understanding them correctly?!
I suppose it should be the prerogative of the film-makers to get their work translated. I dont see anyone else taking the trouble to get the intension out sincerely.
true...
and its surprising that the indian film makers still do not put in those particular efforts...but rather fight out about whose film should be pushed forward as representation of india in the foriegn language films at the oscars...and crib about how they undermine or fail to see the movies deserved credit!
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