Maldives learns Hindi from Bollywood
PTI, PANAJI | 19 September 2010 22:15 IST
Nearly 80 per cent of Hindi speaking population in Maldives have learnt the language watching Bollywood movies, a senior actor said here today.
Ali Seaxan, a national award winning actor from Maldives, says that the country's film industry itself draws inspiration from Bollywood and several Maldivian remakes of Hindi movies have made box office hits.
"Eighty per cent of Maldivian people talk Hindi because of Bollywood movies. I myself know Hindi because of the movies," the actor said.
Ali, known as a `Shahrukh Khan' of Maldivian cinema, has played a role similar that of Akshay Kumar in 'Dhadkan' in a Maldivian remake of the movie.
Vikram Bhatt's `Raaz', a horror film was also remade in Maldivian language.
"Bollywood is where we get strength from," he said adding that Shahrukh Khan and John Abraham are hot favourites in Maldives.
"We don't have much relations with Indian film industry like what we have with Sri Lankan," the 30-year-old actor, who is here to participate in South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) which began Friday, told PTI.
He said Maldives has always been a destination for Indian film industry to shoot their sequence but there is no much interaction between the film industries of the the two industries.
I think not just Maldives but whole India learns Hindi from Bollywood and its singers (Go to South India and non Hindi regions of India and you will know). India is best united by Bollywood, cricket + Sachin and Hindi songs. Politics, corruption and rest of the things such as hijacking of religion is taking this unity to dogs.