Muggloos, Jadugars & More! I Watched Harry Potter In Hindi To Beat Boredom & Here's How It Went
Almost 4 months in and this year is already making us wish for a reboot. The most important lesson that i have learned in recent times is that we should be very careful about what we desire. While most of us would often crave for an extended weekend to stay at home and relax, our wish did eventually come true in the form of the 'you-know-what' lockdown.
With so much free time and nowhere to go, most of us started burning the midnight oil to binge-watch shows and movies only to run out of new things in less than a month itself. A victim of the same tragedy, I decided to take a break from experimenting and revisit the classics.
english journals
Now, Potterheads are people who set an unbeatable example of fanaticism for a series way before Game of Thrones came into being. Cut to early 2000s when summer vacations meant, watching as much TV as we wanted without any care about pending homework or projects. These holidays also entailed watching Harry Potter movies in Hindi on POGO! While it did crack us up back then, watching them now as an adult is quite a different feeling tbh. On the 18th anniversary of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer¡¯s Stone, here are 40 thoughts that crossed my mind, when i saw the movie in Hindi once again:
1. When Professor McGonagall asked Albus if it¡¯s safe to leave Harry with his aunt and uncle, she said - ¡°Albus, maine pure din inn par nazar rakhi tum jante nahi yeh bohot hi gandhi tarah ke muggloo log hain¡±, it made me guffaw! FYI Muggles are called Muggloo in Hindi.
2. Seeing Hagrid cry on leaving Harry with his aunt and uncle feels as devastating as it did in English. Albus: Na Na Hagrid, Kuch Saalon Ki Hi Toh Baat Hai
3. Uthiye Bhaiyaa humein Chidiyaghar jana hai - Why Dudley, why?
4. Okay, the Dursleys are annoying AF, no matter which language you see them converse in.
5. Hagrid is talking like a Parsi uncle - humne tumhe kab se nahi dekha - tum toh ache khase tagde ho gaye ho Harry!
6. I¡¯m so thankful they didn¡¯t Indian-ize the background music! Also, Albus being called Sanki Buddhe by Vernon Dursley feels funny. Not ha-ha funny but yeah!
7. Bati lao! The way the Gringott¡¯s Goblin aka Pishach orders giant Hagrid reminds me of a sarkari bank.
8. The narration of Voldemort¡¯s back story is actually very gripping. Unlike south movies, this Hindi translation is quite interesting so far.
9. Platform number paune dus - 9 and 3/4? Definitely, gadbad hai Harry.
10. The flavours of Bertie Bott¡¯s every flavoured beans sound more disgusting in Hindi - palak, gurda, ghost and even keede ke swad ki. Yuck!
11. Scabbers is a gaya gujra chooha. Also, the spell - Surat chanda makhan khalo, iss gaye gujre ka rang badal daalo. Man, this is gold!
12. Truth be told the Hindi names of the four houses are more powerful:
Gryffindor - Gaurav Garuddwar
Ravenclaw: Chandrika Cheelghat
Hufflepuff - Maya Mehnatkash
Syltherin - Nagesh Nagshakti
They sound like a poem, don't they?
13. Draco¡¯s slick hair doesn't match the Hindi voice. I would have preferred a much meaner voice. Moving on!
14. It¡¯s time for Bolti topi to sort out the houses. I wouldn't mind a spin-off on this very object/character. He's sassy and badassy for sure!
15. Percy: Hello sir Nicholos, kaisi kati chuttiyan?
Nick: Ekdum wahiyat!
Well, we feel you Nearly Headless Nick or lagbhag sar katte nick! Our situation is quite the same
16. Snape¡¯s dubbing is so on point! Khus Khus aur Afeem mein kya farak hai?
17. Seamus: Jaadu Ke Aage Jhuk Gaye Parvat, Keh Do Paani Se Bann Jaye Sharbat! These hindi spells have my heart!
18. Rememberball is Bhool na jana in Hindi - Come to think of it, this can be used as a pick up line!
19. Wood, here¡¯s your new Khoji aka Seeker. Welcome to Quidditch Potter!
20. Filch calling his beloved cat Mrs Norris Gudiya made me cringe real bad!
21. Khoji bagging the Sunehri Gend is > Seeker catching hold of the snitch.
22. Tehkhane mein daitya ghus aaya hai is not the same as Troll in the dungeon. Nope, not even close! It's so very extraa!
23. Iski naak se yeh kya nikla? Dude, Harry it¡¯s mucus! Come on, sabki naak mein hota hai.
24. The way they are casually talking about the teen mooh wala kutta is quite hilarious.
25. Lagta hai usse ulti aarahi hai - Hagrid is cute in all languages. Period.
26. The revelation of the three-faced dog¡¯s name being fluffy gets to me every single time, no matter what language
27. Sorry Hermione, jaadui shatranj is not a jungli khel at all. It¡¯s very thanda oops i mean cool!
28. Harry asked Ron - Main gayab hoon? After wearing the adrishya choga or invisibility cloak, if you may. Do you realise Hindi words are more dramatic and effective?
29. And the secret of Paras pathar is out!
30. McGonagall deducting Malfoy¡¯s points is so satisfying be it in Hindi or English.
31. Voldy is called vaishi darinda and rightfully so!
32. Snape tells the trio to be careful because log yeh na samjhein ki aap badmaashi kar rahe hain. This made me giggle!
33. Ron to Hermione - tum akalmand ho par darawani. Intimidation at its best!
34. I agree with Harry, Hermione is a better jaadugar than him, let¡¯s be honest, yeah?
35. Adbhut karname ? Of course, he¡¯s a big time jhootha Harry. Good that you didn¡¯t give in to Voldemort¡¯s advances
36. Dumbledore to Harry: Tehkhane mein jo kuch bhi hua tumahre aur professor Quirrell ke bich woh ek raaz hai toh zahir hai usse poora school janta hai. This is such a relatable thing, isn¡¯t it?! Every secret piece of gossip spreads like wildfire.
37. Dumbledore just ate a kaan ka mail flavoured toffee and I cringed over it more than i did at earwax! *shudders*
38. Dumbledore lost me with the Hindi marks! *hides face* Note to self: Learn counting in Hindi ASAP.
39. Harry agar tumhara woh motala bhai Dudley tumhe tang kare toh tum usse dhamki de sakte ho - Hagrid, you of all people shouldn¡¯t be body shaming anyone! It¡¯s funny but ethically wrong.
40. Main ghar nahi, ghar se jaa raha hoon! And with that line Harry ended the first movie on a cheery note.
VERDICT: From a true-blue potterhead's perspective, the movie was phenomenal in Hindi. It kept the interest alive throughout. Unlike those other South movies' translations, this one didn¡¯t feel that awkward. Of course, there¡¯s no competition with the original but i now know why those summer vacations were so memorable and why we used to be so hooked to them. Truth be told, i¡¯m impressed all over again and will most likely be watching all the parts in Hindi, now that the lockdown has been extended for another two weeks.
Do give it a shot! Who knows, you might feel inspired! Stay home and stay safe, pottermaniacs. Cheers!
Bhavya Sadhwani heads Indiatimes OTT section - Binge. She calls herself an entertainment ninja and OTT content sucker. She loves to write on web series, movies, documentaries, reality shows and everything else that releases on digital platforms. She forms a special bond with those who share her love for cringe content.
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