Telugu finds glam speakers

Speaking Telugu like a native is in these days. Many popular personalities have not only made Hyderabad their home but have also gone as far as adopting the local language as their own. Priyamani, the famous Tollywood actress, is Malayali by birth and has grown up in Benguluru. But she speaks Telugu fluently and takes pride in it. This Malayali kutty says, “Since I can speak the language it becomes easy for me to converse with my unit on the sets. I am confident I can do my own dubbing very soon.” However, this trend of learning the language by non-Telugu actors dates back to the 90s when Amrish Puri did his own dubbing for movies. Prakash Rawal, the popular villain has taken a leaf out of Puri’s book and does his dubbing himself.
Popular anchor Suma, hosts her show in telugu and seeing how comfortably she converses in Telugu one can hardly make out that she is a Malayali. “I studied in St.Ann’s School where I opted for Telugu as my second language. It was after I entered the TV industry that writers, producers and artists taught me the language. It is easier to learn Telugu than Malayalam,” says Suma. These determined actors have learnt the language through various ways. Some have learnt it from their colleagues and some by watching Telugu films. Says Nikita, a Punjabi by birth, “Nitin helped me learn the language when we were shooting for Sambaram. I also picked up a lot after watching Telugu movies.”
Apart from the actors many other people settled in the city too have learnt the language as this makes their work easier. Says Chetan, RJ at Big FM who speaks Khatri at home, “I could not speak Telugu till tenth grade. I have learnt it from my friends in college.” He also runs a Telugu show on his station. Business czars have also benefitted by speaking the language of the natives. As this makes interaction with local clients easier. “Learning Telugu was not tough as I have been here since my childhood. It was after my marriage that I picked up the language. As most of my employees are local people speaking in Telugu helps,” says Bunty Bajaj of Krsala Jewellery showroom, Banjara Hills.