Films and film stars have always been youth icons of their generation! If earlier the influence of ‘matinee idols’ was confined to youth aping their hair style, mannerisms , dress sense, etc, it hardly affected the culture of the region.
Certainly heroes and heroines were fashion trendsetters and idolised.
Yet there was one arena which remained unaffected : the Telugu spoken in movies. It was chaste in diction, sans any vulgarity. The spoken Telugu would turn dialectical or adopt English terms only when the situation so warranted. Today, Telugu language in films has undergone a metamorphosis for the worse. Worse because, English language and its grammar have been mercilessly hacked to death and a new lingo has been born. How would ‘Teluglish’ do for a name? Movie producers/directors/actors feel compelled to spice their dialogues with a English-Telugu mix to appeal to the youth who identify with movies, personalise them and personify on an unprecedented scale
The result: a hilarious lexicon of English, aka Teluglish terms that would make an Englishman turn in his grave. ‘Variety ga undi’ (implying ‘seems different’) can just about mean articles,women, anything that is not commonplace! Little do the users know that ‘variety’ can be applied only to articles and not humans! ‘Compulsory ga vastanu/chestanu ’ (I will definitely come or do) flows out often with few realising that compulsory indicates force, and not ‘definitely’!
Also a whole sentence in English is used as a single term! “ I love you cheppu… ” (Say, I love you) when it should have been “ nuvvu nannu love chestunnanani cheppu” (say, you love me’)! Everything that evokes mirth is dubbed as ‘comedy’ and a jibe invites a very high-sounding reference to ‘satire.’ ‘ Satire vestunnava ?’ (literally translates as are you putting on satire?) or ‘ bhale comedy ga undi ,’ in response to a joke! Little do we realise that these two terms are utterly literary English, not often used in spoken language.
We often hear the word ‘feel’ (bring in a little more ‘feel’ or there is no ‘feel’ in your singing,) in reality shows hosting music contests from the judges who don’t realise that feel makes no sense without the ‘to’ (as in ‘to feel’); and is incomplete in its implication without the ‘ing’ (feeling).
Another term which has caught on is ‘scene’ and ‘build up’. ‘ Antha scene ledu ,’ (implying it doesn’t merit much value) and ‘build up icchadu ’ (he’s given a build-up to convey that the person has exaggerated or fabricated excuses ! In normal English a ‘scene’ is just an ‘act in a stage play’ or a ‘view’ or ‘fuss’ while a build- up is actually a hype or accumulation which is obviously being used in the wrong context!
The lesser of such evils is the use of ‘class’ ( class peekaru/teesukonnaru ) indicating being chided by someone. Class is either a lesson or refinement or category, but even if loosely used in Teluglish, it still makes some sense! Gross anomalies like ‘birthing’ for delivering a child; ‘growthing’ referring to hair growth; ‘cooker’ referring to a cook; ‘red chop’ (chap) to fair complexion — the list goes on!
Since English has struck a hybrid in the language of Telugu region it can be bestowed an official status if some bold scholar would come forward to produce a new lexicon for future-users!
