MUMBAI MIRROR (June 13, 2016)
Mehboob Khan's 1957 epic drama Mother India, has endeared itself to Ethiopians for the last 59 years. While Bollywood blockbusters like Veer Zara, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan Arjun have earned their heroes, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, a huge fan following, thanks to them being dubbed in local language, Amharic, Ethiopians embraced the Nargis-classic without understanding a word of Hindi.
“I watched Mother India some 40 years ago. Now a lot of people know and watch Indian movies even if they do not understand them as almost everybody now has a cable TV even in the remote areas,“ says Soloman Tadesse, CEO, Ethiopian Tourism Organisation .
Almost everyone who was asked about Bollywood in the country has a unique story to share about Mother India. “I love Mother India and cried for half an hour after watching it,“ said Dorse, owner of a souvenir shop.
With the advent of cable television, more movies are now being translated in the local language and made available to Ethiopians. “Cable TV brings Indian movies. Recently an Ethiopian company started dubbing the movies in Amharic. There is a lot of similarity in the mindset, culture and temperament among the people of both the countries,“ Tadesse said.
“I watched Mother India some 40 years ago. Now a lot of people know and watch Indian movies even if they do not understand them as almost everybody now has a cable TV even in the remote areas,“ says Soloman Tadesse, CEO, Ethiopian Tourism Organisation .
Almost everyone who was asked about Bollywood in the country has a unique story to share about Mother India. “I love Mother India and cried for half an hour after watching it,“ said Dorse, owner of a souvenir shop.
With the advent of cable television, more movies are now being translated in the local language and made available to Ethiopians. “Cable TV brings Indian movies. Recently an Ethiopian company started dubbing the movies in Amharic. There is a lot of similarity in the mindset, culture and temperament among the people of both the countries,“ Tadesse said.