Aamir Khan-The master of all dialects

Bollywood movies usually have the dialect which is a mix of Hindi and Urdu. The dialect can be named the "Bollywood dialect" where there is a beautiful mix of these two languages. However, there are instances where Bollywood movies have adapted a particular dialect for the movie as per the movie subject or for a particular movie character. Actors who are trained before coming into the movie field are hardly trained in the dialects. They are usually exposed to the common Bollywood dialect or they could be well versed in any of their own regional dialect if they come from the particular region. There have been only a handful of Bollywood actors who have donned characters which required them to speak in a particular dialect and even rare ones like Aamir Khan, who not only learnt the dialect but also perfected them. 

The first tryst for Aamir Khan to try a different dialect came with the sensational Munna in "Rangeela". Till Rangeela, Aamir Khan had also spoken in the usual Bollywood dialect because none of his character demanded a different one. With Ramgopal Varma's Rangeela, Aamir Khan got to play a Mumbai Tapori character named Munna. Well, a Tapori is usually referred to as the one who is a street thug or a vagabond. They are not rowdies, but they do possess traits of them. They are usually the ones who come from the lower middle class or the lesser privileged class and have a unique style of talking which is named the "Tapori" language. The tapori's also have a unique sense of dressing. They hardly care for the fashions. They wear flashy clothes, add any kind of accessory to their clothing and are absolutely carefree. Aamir Khan learnt the tapori language and also their style of dressing, their style of walking, talking and immersed himself beautifully in the character of Munna. You could hardly believe he was acting. 

The tapori language is usually blessed with words such as "APUN" which means "Me". "Bhailog" means "People" , "Lafda" meaning "fight". Before Rangeela, only Anil Kapoor had played the tapori in a full length role in "Awargi" and also "Tezaab". Aamir Khan made Munna memorable. He spoke the tapori dialect so well and with such a delicious attitude, that he makes Munna lovable even when he has an unnecessary tiff. Another important aspect is the hand movements. Every dialect has a unique hand movement just to emphasise a particular word or statement. For example, watch out for the scene where Aamir Khan is seen selling tickets in black and a constable comes up to him and says "Haath uthao", to which Aamir Khan humorously replies "Kya sahab, apun aap pe kaise haath utha sakta hain". There is an innate humour in the Tapori language and the way Aamir Khan lifts his right hand with a closed fist is the kind of hand movement that most taporis use. These kind of nuances can be only understood if you spend a good amount of time with the taporis of Mumbai, live with them observe them and be a part of their lives. The shirt which was not tucked in but folded above the waist, the dotted baniyan inside the shirt and a leather cap with a kerchief wrapped around his neck.  He never put a wrong foot as far the tapori dialect goes in Rangeela. He even bettered the tapori acts of Anil Kapoor. Nobody, absolutely nobody has spoken the tapori dialect and accent better than Aamir Khan. If any actor plays the tapori character again, he is bound to be compared with Munna.Aamir Khan also gave a humane touch to Munna. There is a line in the movie when Reema Lagoo says "Munna achha hain, warna to aaj kal ke tapori poora hi bigdele hote hain". Deep down, Munna has a heart of gold. Only great actors can bring this to the table. Aamir Khan is the ultimate Tapori.

Aamir Khan played the Tapori again in Ghulam, however he made sure that there was a marked difference in his get up and also his dialect in Ghulam from Rangeela. This is because in Rangeela, we do not know the back story of Munna. However, in Ghulam, we are made to know that Siddharth Marathe had a childhood where he listened to inspiring stories from his father, however circumstances made him into a Tapori. So, keeping this in mind, Aamir Khan mixed a bit of Bollywood Hindi along with the Tapori dialect in Ghulam. He also added delicious but words which are used by the taporis like "Chingum" meaning "Chewing Gum". Aamir Khan also changed the get up from Rangeela. The Ghulam look was a bit more polished Tapori look than Rangeela, because here Sidharth Marathe has a home, an elderly brother to take care of his expenses. He always wears a leather jacket, has a knucke duster on his first and also he has a well built body than in Rangeela because the character demanded it, he was also doing boxing in the movie. So the lines in Ghulam when he says "Lehron ke saath to koi bhi teer leta hain" have a touch of Bollywood dialect and a slightly tapori touch. Aamir Khan achieved the impossible. He played the tapori again , yet made the tapori of Ghulam look different from the tapori of Rangeela. Its difficult to chose the better Tapori!

With Lagaan, Aamir Khan brought another dialect to his filmography. It was Awadhi. Awadhi, is a dialect of Hindi, originated from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Though the movie was based in Bhuj, Gujrat, Awadhi was chosen to cater to the largely hindi speaking audience. The awadhi language was spoken by actors before in Bollywood, the best example that comes to mind is Dilip Kumar in the cult classic "Gunga Jamuna". Though the awadhi dialect might sound simple, its a difficult one. Again, the dialect needs to be perfected along with the hand movements, mannerisms to make it look real. Aamir Khan once again worked really hard on the character of Bhuvan, his village look, his dressing and of course the Awadhi language. Words such as "Kaahe" which means "Why" and "Jaanat hain" meaning "I know", "OO Taraf" means " That side". These are few of the examples in Awadhi language that makes it different from Hindi. You can also observe that its difficult to grasp some of the dialogues spoken by Raghuvir Yadav in Lagaan as he speaks awadhi because his character demanded him to speak it quickly.

 Its almost impossible for a foreigner to understand it as the character of Elizabeth finds out. Along with the dialect, Aamir Khan also worked really hard on the hand movements and his expressions. Watch out for the scene when Aamir Khan talks with Rachel Shelly and nods his head unable to understand a single word uttered by her, he sounds like an absolute villager who is subjected to English language and can barely understand a word. With the typical "gamcha" that the villagers wear  around their head, he also took care of the naunces in the costumes. The hand movements that are used in Lagaan could probably be the most that Aamir Khan has incorporated for any movie. Even when Bhuvan bowls and runs up to bowl, he does not look like a polished bowler. There is a rustic charm to it, like a typical villager who is new to the game. Awadhi language also does not use the sound "SH". The reason why Bhuvan says "Sarat manzoor hain" which usually would be "Shart Manzoor hain".  After Dilip Kumar, if there has been any actor who has perfected Awadhi, it has to be Aamir Khan hands down. Lagaan is arguably one of the greatest movies ever made in India and Bhuvan with his Awadhi, also made it one of the greatest ever performances in Indian cinema. He took on the challenge and came out with distinction marks. As per the making book of Lagaan, Aamir Khan thought he was not well prepared for Awadhi as he also had to double as a producer for the movie. This made him work harder on the language and the dialect. In typical Bhuvan style, when the challenge was thrown at Aamir Khan , he said "Sarat Manzoor hain". Bhuvan's dialect in Lagaan is a masterclass in Awadhi.

In Rang De Basanti, Aamir Khan moved on to the Punjabi Dialect. The character of DJ, who hails from Punjab, a careless college goer who has completed his college and yet refuses to leave college, hangs around with his friends required Aamir Khan to utter Punjabi dialect. However, its not heavy Punjabi dialect in Rang De Basanti. Its peppered with Punjabi dialect. The Punjabi dialogues like "Behen di takki" (some might consider it an expletive but is a common term for Punjabi youth). He speaks in typical Punjabi dialect with his mother in the movie, however when with friends, he peppers with with few words from Punjabi such as "Soni kudi" means "beautiful girl", "Chaldi" meaning "walking", "Duniya de Jhamele" meaning "problems of life"  Aamir Khan also took of his costumes which are mostly youthful clothes with a bike driving gloves in hand and fluttered hair. Coming to hand movements and expressions, watch the memorable scene when he tells Sue how life is so different in college and outside college, he mostly used head movements to convey his point as he ends every dialogue with the line "Tim lak lak de" making the character of DJ lovable and jolly. DJ on the surface is a very jolly character, however inside lies a vulnerability, a sense of fear inside DJ, the fear that most college goers face. Also, watch out for his dialect and scene when he breaks down into tears before Sue on the dining table. This scene has a lot of head movements of Aamir Khan with occasional hand movements to convey the right amount of emotion. DJ is one of the best characters ever written and Aamir Khan played the Punjabi speaking, free spirited DJ like no one could have. Even during the final scenes of the movie, Aamir Khan makes us all cry and laugh at the same time as speaks in the typical Punjabi peppered Hindi language "Behen Di Takki Dil mein bas gayee yaar, bas ek hi chinta hain, bachhe gore honge ya Kaale". DJ left the world at the end of the movie, however his dialect, his performance and his lines will always remain imprinted in the hearts of the movie goers.

Aamir Khan moved to a neighbour language "Haryanvi" in Dangal. Haryanvi is the local language of Haryana which is an adjacent state of Punjab. Haryanvi dialect was previously used in Bollywood in movies of yesteryear and also of late by Kangana Ranaut in "Tanu weds Manu Returns". Aamir Khan who plays a boxer in Dangal who fulfils his unfulfilled dream of a gold medal for India through his daughters had to speak Haryanvi, however he had to also take care of the dialect as his character graph sees a lot of difference in age, look. Words "Manne" means "Me" and also "Mhaaro" meaning "Mine", "Tanne" meaning "You" and one of the most typical word used in Haryanvi language "Chori" meaning "Girl". The character in Dangal, Mahavir Phogat is very upright, extremely disciplined and foccused. Keeping this in mind, you can see the Haryanvi accent spoken by Aamir is with a very heavy voice. Aamir Khan had once said that he used to dub early in the mornings for Sarfarosh as the character was that of a cop and needed a heavy voice. I think he would have followed the same for the dialect during dubbing of Dangal. Dangal also had the story of an emotional father and daughter. The best hand movements used in Dangal along with the dialect in Dangal can be seen when Aamir is seen sitting in the crowd and reacting to his daughters moves in Wrestling during the match.

 Watch out for his hand movements when he just uses his left hand to tell her to keep going, the way he suddenly jumps up from his seat and again uses both the hands in celebration. Watch out the heart breaking song "Naina" where he beautifully uses the hand and head movements to convey the minor emotional aspects of a father, when a lonely father standing up from his balcony sees his daughter going away in rickshaw, a lonely father folding his hands alone in the fields, the way he stands on the terrace and his second daughter looks at him from behind, Aamir Khan with folded hands, such a common trait with most fathers.  Brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant! Diction alone cannot drive a performance. During the shoot, Aamir felt that Sakshi Tanwar, Zaira and Suhani were speaking better Haryanvi. He worked harder to perfect the dialect as he always sets the standards high. Aamir Khan knows it. There are so many other factors that add to the dialect. Aamir Khan participated in this Dangal of the Haryanvi dialect and emerged a winner with a Gold medal.

Aamir Khan entered the Bhojpuri territory with the Raj Kumari Hirani starrer "PK". The Bhojpuri language finds its origin in the state of Bihar. The dialect has been spoken previously in Bollywood movies by Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and even Govinda. However, here Aamir Khan was not playing a typical Bhojpuri character. He was playing an Alien who learns Bhojpuri. So, his bhojpuri dialect in PK is a bit different. Raj Kumar Hirani offered him some typical Bhojpuri words such as 'Tukur Tukur' meaning "staring" and some humorous words such as "Gola" meaning "Planet". Now, this word "Gola" is not a typical Bhojpuri word, however the character of PK being an alien, it was used in the movie in Bhojpuri style. Raj Kumar Hirani first wanted to use the Rajasthani dialect in PK, however it was Aamir's suggestion to use Bhojpuri. 

Bhojpuri, again like the Tapori is an entertaining dialect. It has an innate humour and an innocence in it. You can see the character of PK walking around in the village of Rajasthan in the movie, however he learns Bhojpuri by holding hands of a Bhojpuri woman. Also, watch out how Aamir brilliantly used the "Paan" in the movie. When Aamir Khan meets the prostitute and holds her hand to grasp Bhojpuri language, it is the first time he eats Paan as she offers him. From here on, the character of PK speaks Bhojpuri chewing the "Paan". Again, this was the brilliant idea of the genius Khan. This added so much difference to the bhojpuri dialect and it looked different from the other actors who had spoken it in Bollywood. You utter any word and then utter the same word chewing a Paan. You can find a world of difference in the dialect and also the manner in which its spoken. This was an innovative and masterful decision by Aamir Khan. As usual along with the dialect, watch out for the body and hand movements of Aamir Khan. The way he says "Achha" in the police lock up is memorable. The same word is uttered differently and Aamir conveys it beautifully using his facial expressions and hand movements. PK amazingly explained the same word "Achha" could convey so many different meaning just by changing the expressions. So true. "Achha" means "Good", however the expressions can change its meaning as "question" or " shocking reaction".  PK was an Alien who came to Earth giving a message of love and unity, however Aamir Khan proved once again that he is no Alien to the Bhojpuri language. He owned it, he innovated it and he enjoyed it. Aamir Khan gave a new life to Bhojpuri and left us all yearning for more.

URDU has always been an integral part of Bollywood movies and its songs. Bollywood movies popularly also known as Hindi movies have never been without the Urdu language. Urdu language originated from Persian language. It is also known a persianised standard register of the Hindustani language. Every star in Bollywood has spoken Urdu. Surprisingly, only a few seems to spoken it correctly. Yes, you read it right. I am talking of Chaste Urdu. Urdu is a language which is very accurate in pronunciation and it takes into account almost every sound. You cannot even one miss one sound in the Urdu dialect. It is the very reason Urdu is almost a compulsory for a lyric writer or a music composer in Bollywood. 

Of the few actors who spoke chaste and correct Urdu in Bollywood include the great Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Naseer Uddin Shah, Rekha,  Farookh Sheikh. Aamir Khan joined the elite brigade. To judge if an actor is speaking Urdu in the right dialect, the simple test is to check how he utters a Shayari. A Shayari is a poem or a couplet in Urdu. Also, Urdu might require you to do an Aadab using the right hand, the most common form of Salaam (greeting).

 It would have been easier for Aamir Khan as he would be accustomed to do it at home, however he surely must have worked hard on the other aspects. Aamir Khan spoke absolutely pitch perfect Urdu when he delivered Shayari in "Sarfarosh". He Spoke it during the scenes with Naseer Uddin Shah and also with Sonali Bendre. He also used Urdu Shayari's in " Fanaa". In the character of Rehan, Fanaa gave Aamir Khan ample scope to display his brilliance at Urdu. Just look at how he utters the beautiful lines in Fanaa, you can clealry hear each and every word, each and every sound with absolutely pitch perfect Urdu pronunciation. "Adhoori Saans thi, Dhadkan Adhoori Thi, Adhure the Hum, par Ab chaand poora hain falak pe, aur poore hain ham" meaning " My breathe was incomplete, my heart beat was, so was I, but now the moon is complete and so am I". Beautiful lines expressed even more beautifully in Urdu by the genius Khan. Aamir Khan made us all drool with his Urdu. Who would not like to be "Fanaa" on the genius Aamir Khan?

Aamir Khan has portrayed different characters, done different movies and given memorable performances. However, what makes him different and a notch above the rest is the use of dialect, his body movements and facial expressions. They add so much to the performance. It is what differentiates a great performance from a very good performance. We are certainly going to see Aamir Khan try different dialects in future and I am sure he would come out with flying colours in each of it. Aamir Khan is the king of dialects, the king of expressions. He paints each dialect and language with love, perfects it like a surgeon and takes care of it like his child. He is certainly God's chosen one. More Power to him!!

PS: Aamir Khan writes the words phonetically which also helps him to get the accent right. A trick which I guess no other actor would have tried ever in Bollywood.