Speak more Hindi, Amitabh urges Bollywood's new gen

Mumbai, Aug 28 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, known for his command over Hindi, hopes the new generation of Bollywood actors use the language more often instead of being highly Westernised.

Amitabh, 75, is seen using proper Hindi while he interacts with the common people who participate in the reality TV game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati", the 10th season of which will go on air on September 3.

Asked if the new generation of Hindi film actors are using lesser Hindi and are becoming highly Westernised, Amitabh said at the launch of the show here on Tuesday: "Yes, I agree with that observation."

"In fact, these days when I get anything that is written in Roman Hindi, I return it to the person and ask him/ her to write it in Devanagri script.

"When it comes to the show KBC, I am not trying to force anything upon anyone but the language of the show is Hindi, so I speak in Hindi. If that inspires the young generation to speak in Hindi more, it is good," he added.

The Bachchan household has multi-cultural people. While Big B's wife Jaya is from Bengal, his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan comes from the south.

Asked about the most used language in the Bachchan household, the actor said: "Talking about our household, we speak in a universal language. We speak in Hindi and English both.

"Some of the family members are from north India, some from the southern land and some from West Bengal as well, so if you come to our house, we appreciate Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali and every other language."

The forthcoming season of KBC, an adaptation of the popular international format "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", has "Kab Tak Rokoge" as its campaign theme. It is centered on a message around the undying spirit of the common man.

Being a man who rose from all hurdles in his life like a phoenix in various phases of his journey -- whether it was the rough patch of his film career or surviving a fatal accident in 1982, does the theme and the show's theme poetry represent his personal journey as well?

"To make it look personal would not be appropriate. We are here to talk about the effort of common people because the entire show aims to depict that effort.

"I think the poem pushes the common man forward and motivates them to have a little more aggressive approach towards life and say 'Don't give up'," he said.

KBC started in the year 2000. It has evolved its format with time and to keep the relevance alive, this year the makers have introduced augmented reality to make the viewing experience better.

While 50:50, Audience Poll and Jodidaar, the much appreciated Lifelines, have been retained, this year will see the return of "Ask the Expert" lifeline wherein one expert will be available to the contestant via video call link to help the contestant with an appropriate answer.

Also, audio-visual questions, on varied subjects ranging from sports to politics, have been included in the format of the show, set to go on air on Sony Entertainment Television.