Carey Suante
Paupu The Hero is a movie that enthrals young and old alike. This movie is actually a Thai movie called Ong-bak starring Tony Jaa “the next Bruce Lee”. The original Thai movie is great in itself, though it lacks a decent plot, here I want to focus on the dubbed version in Zou dialect from Manipur.The fact that a motley crew of dubbing artists, who did voice-overs for the movie turned a Thai movie into a Zou movie in itself is creative enough.But what the dubbed movie achieved is something they themselves might not even be aware of.Paupu The Hero is especially popular amongst children. Even in New Delhi. A cousin's son loved the movie so much that he practically was mimicing the dialect wherever he goes! More importantly, he is therefore learning to speak Zou. If not for Paupu The Hero, it would not have been possible for him to learn Zou.
Now even my daughter M, is always saying things like "Nang bang bawl a kinei la zawlpa!". (Popular phrase from the dubbed movie).You see Paupu The Hero may have achieved far greater impact than a literature board coming out with a couple books a year!
Let me list out some points why any Zo Lit Board* should learn from Paupu the Hero.Utilize more powerful media:Our Zo lit boards seem to think that literature can only be taught and learned via books alone. Printed materials will always be there but there are not always that effective. More people are now watching TV than reading books. People prefer watching movies to reading scholarly literature articles. Zo lit boards should therefore use the more powerful media like movies, songs (videos), internet, etc in trying to popularise and reach out to more people. Do our Zo lit boards even have a website? Don't tell me. I know the answer.
Universal Theme/subject:
Zo lit boards should utilize universal themes and subjects to propagate the dialect they want to promote. Had those creative youngsters dubbing the Paupu The Hero pasted 'Zou ham hi Zomite ham tahtah hi' on the CD cover, they would not have the enjoyed the level of popularity and success the dubbed movie enjoyed. Instead they created this for fun. And fun is universal enough. It was fun learning Zou dialect whilst watching Paupu the Hero.
The theme/subject is as important,if not more, as the message:
Zo people really have no tact. We say what we mean and mean what we say. The Zo lit boards ought to be more tactful when broadcasting message or propagating views and opinions. Don't simply say ' 'Zou ham hi Zomite ham tahtah hi', weave that message around an interesting story. An interesting story like Ong-Bak! Paupu the Hero is successful mainly due to the popularity of the original movie itself, the thrilling action sequences to be precise.
Don't ignore less powerful media:
Although Zo Lit Boards should pay more attention to powerful media like TV, videos, radio, Internet etc, they should not ignore less powerful ones like books and magazines! Do publish more books and magazines but please change the subject. Write a fiction, interview an interesting professional, writing shocking stories, love stories, sad stories, etc. The idea is to captivate attention by involving the readers emotionally and by catering to their every senses. Write these with your correct grammar and word-combinations. (These two elements seem to be the most problematic elements of Zo literatures!)What do you think? Care to share your thought on this?
*Zo Lit Board = Zo Literature Board representing the host of literature boards we have
.Zoaw.info
