Mumbai, May 6 Lyricist and screenwriter Prasoon Joshi, who is also the Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification in India, has spoken up on the language row in the light of the recent Sonu Nigam controversy.
The lyricist spoke with IANS at a musical event. He feels that language is a binding factor, and different languages like India’s cultural diversity should be celebrated.
He told IANS, “I never felt that language divides. I feel languages unite us. All the languages. I feel blessed that I was born in this country where there are so many languages. When I was born, I spoke in my mother tongue, Kumaoni language, which was not Hindi. But at the same time when I grew up, I started learning Hindi. Then I grew up and I joined the corporate world and started speaking English. There is Bengali poetry from which I have learnt a lot”.
He then credited Oscar and Grammy-winning music composer A. R. Rahman for helping him unlock a whole new dimension of Tamil poetry, and getting inspired by them as an artist.
He further mentioned, “While working with A. R. Rahman, I have also started understanding a little bit of Tamil poetry. I think it's a privilege that we have so many languages. I think we should not get into the unnecessary dispute of languages. For me, I feel it's our strength as a country”.
When asked to comment about Sonu Nigam following a filing of an FIR against the playback singer, Prasoon Joshi gave an honest answer, saying he is not aware of the controversy, and also said that he likes to distance himself from something which doesn’t appreciate India’s diversity.
“I don't know how it (Sonu Nigam and Kannadiga controversy) started. I have not even followed. I feel that I distance myself from anything which doesn’t celebrate my country's diversity. I feel our diversity is our biggest strength. We should all, in fact, talk more positively. If somebody has faltered somewhere, we should not talk about that”, he added.
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