The comedy English Vinglish starring the famous Indian Bollywood star Sridevi has had a surprising impact in the Indian-speaking world. The movie takes a comedic look at the barriers that pop up when you don’t speak a language well enough to be able to differentiate important nuances. In the movie Sridevi plays the role of an Indian woman, a middle-class housewife, living in Pune, India who must travel to New York City to help her niece get ready for her wedding. Sahshi’s English is not very fluent – something that has caused her own children and husband to tease her. When she arrives in Manhattan she soon discovers that her lack of English is a huge barrier and the cause of some frustration and humour. Sridevi is a legendary Bollywood star and she has delighted audience with her return to the screen after a 15-year hiatus.

Directed by Gauri Shinde, and her first feature, the film has now become a box office success as word of mouth has travelled to many areas and women of all ages are heading to the theatre to see their favourite star and then heading to class to improve their English.

‘English Vinglish’ encourages Dalit girls in Bihar

Mumbai: Sridevi’s efforts to overcome linguistic barriers in English Vinglish has inspired Dalit girls in Bihar in a big way. Girls from various colleges in Patna and neighbouring towns of Bihar have watched the film and are motivated to improve their spoken English.

“It’s not just housewives. Young unmarried college-going girls feel the same sense of inferiority that Sridevi experiences in ‘English Vinglish‘ because of a lack of fluency in English. They are coming forward in huge numbers to see the film and going back with the determination to join English-improvement classes,” Suman Sinha, a leading Patna exhibitor said.

                           Firstpost.Bollywood, Oct 18^th 2012 @firstpostin

Word of mouth publicity indeed helped and people of all age groups are taking a liking to English Vinglish, a perfect comeback vehicle for Sridevi, whose outstanding performance as a simple housewife struggling with English has wowed fans.

“Cinemas were jampacked for English Vinglish during the second week. Senior citizens especially are coming to watch the movie for Sridevi,” Sahay said.

                                       Hindustantimes, New Dehli, Oct. 17^th 2012

myETVmedia met with the director/writer Gauri Shinde and Bollywood star Sridevi while in Toronto for the TIFF Gala premiere of English Vinglish.

Moira Romano