Sonechiriya Unofficially Dubbed, Director Refuses To Compromise On Language

 One  of  the reasons  why the  otherwise-stunning  content  of  Abhishek Choubey’sSonechiriya has  not found widespread acceptance is the  film’s language.

The  spoken dialogue in this gritty dacoit drama set  in the Chambal valley is  Bundeli. So  impenetrable  is  the Chambal dialect  for the average  Hindi moviegoer that the film carries English subtitles  from the  first frame to last.

This is  not the  first time that director Abhishek Choubey has had to resort to subtitles  to make  his “Hindi”  accessible  to a pan-India  audience. In Choubey’s  Dedh Ishqiya  andUdta  Punjab too  subtitles had  to be  carried.

Explains director Abhishek Choubey“If you remember,  Dedh Ishqiya was in Urdu with English subtitles.  In Udta Punjab the characters speak in Punjabi. We  again used English subtitles.I think my characters will always  speak the language they are meant to.Our pan-India audiences are mature enough to accept any language that the characters speak.”

Apparently  the  producers  of  Sonechiriya and  the film’s leading man  Sushant Singh Rajput were  not sure that  the  Bulundi dialect would work with a  pan-India  audience. ButChoubey refused to compromise with the spoken language  of his characters.

 Isn’t it ironical that language which  connects people  in this case has ended  up isolating the audience  from the  characters.