How Gangubai’s English subtitles could have been more relevant?

Ajay Singh Rawat/ March 2, 2021

All eyes are set on Gangubai Kathiawadi’s release in July but the official trailer was released lately. The film portrays the life of a simple girl who was pushed into prostitution but who made her way in mafiadom.
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If trailer serves as an appetizer, then subtitles are like salt to it. With so much linguistic diversity in India, it is quite a possibility that many Indian people read subtitles to understand what is being said. It is also an easy source of learning that language too. Keeping in mind how Sanjay’s movies are eagerly waited in South India and abroad too, for the viewers who don’t understand Hindi, Gangubai’s subtitles fall short at both ends. Let us see how:
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1. कहते हैं कमाठीपुरा में कभी अमावस की रात नहीं होती
They say nights in Kamathipura are always moonlit.
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(Kamathipura is said never to have a moonless night.)
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2. क्‍योंक‍ि वहां गंगू रहती है
Because Gangu lives there.
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3. गंगू चांद थी और चांद ही रहेगी
Gangu was, is..and will always shine like the moon.
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(Gangu was the moon, and will always be the moon.)
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4. इज्‍जत से जीने का
Live with dignity.
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5. क‍िसी से डरने का नहीं
Never fear anyone*
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(Don’t fear anyone.)
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6. न पुल‍िस से, न एम. एल. ए. से, न म‍िन‍िस्‍टर से, न क‍िसी भड़वों से, क‍िसी के बाप से नहीं डरने का!
Neither police, nor MLA, or minister or any bloody pimp..Nobody!
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(Be it police, MLA, minister, or pimps, don’t be afraid of anybody’s dad.)
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7. जमीन पर बैठी बहुत अच्‍छी लग रही है तू।
Sitting on the floor suits you.
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(You look great sitting on the floor.)
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8. आदत डाल ले
Get used to it.
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9. क्‍योंक‍ि तेरी कुर्सी तो गयी
Very soon you will be dethroned.
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(Because you have lost your seat.)
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10. मैं गंगुबाई प्रेसीडेन्‍ट कमाठीपुरा
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I am Gangubai, president, Kamathipura.
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11. कुंवारी आपने छोड़ा नहीं और श्रीमती कभी क‍िसी ने बनाया नहीं।
You all didn’t spare my innocence, nor did you give me the respect of marriage.
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(You didn’t leave me maiden and wife I wasn’t ever chosen to be.)
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In the first dialogue, where there is mention of a single moonless night, the translator chose to talk of “always moonlit nights.” Even if the meaning is conveyed, it is not word-for-word replacement kind of translation which should be the first preference.
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In the third dialogue, Gangu will always shine like moon and Gangu will always be a moon, the difference of being one and being like one matters.
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Same is the case with “Never fear anyone” and “Don’t fear anyone.”
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“Sitting on the floor suits you” doesn’t fully import the sarcasm.
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“Very soon you will be dethroned.” Had there been the word “singhasan” in Hindi dialogue, it would have been okay.
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The last and the most sarcastic one dialogue is kind of misinterpreted. Titles Ms and Mrs are used as “Kumari” and “Shrimati” respectively in Hindi for Indian girls and women. Nowadays the word “Sushri” is used for unmarried woman. The word Kunwari in colloquial Hindi meaning unmarried girl or woman is derived from the word Kumari only. Kaumarya or the state of being a kumari means virginity in Sanskrit. This is where the sarcasm of this dialogue lies. A male-dominated society which sexually exploits a woman not only abandons her but also robs her off of any respectable premarital or postmarital title literally applicable to her name. So an empowered Gangubai dares to reject both these titles scornfully and lives by the identity she designed for herself. Therefore the appropriate word for “kunwari” should be virginity or maidenhood only, not innocence.

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