What The Fakht?
September 6, 2012 2:50 PM Subscribe
"I Want Fakht You" is a semi-show-stopping musical number in the new Hindi comedy/fantasy film "Joker" (official trailer), a rather odd movie (by Bollywood standards) about what happened after the Inmates literally started running the Asylum (plus a rocket scientist, some post-colonial history, a media circus and maybe aliens!).
It MUST be noted that the word "Fakht" is Hindi for "Just", so the lyric is "I Want Just You", but the audio may still be NSFW for clueless Anglophones.
It MUST be noted that the word "Fakht" is Hindi for "Just", so the lyric is "I Want Just You", but the audio may still be NSFW for clueless Anglophones.
the audio may still be NSFW for clueless Anglophones.
see also
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:17 PM on September 6, 2012
see also
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:17 PM on September 6, 2012
yup, it's just us dumbass anglophones. there's no way they might be making a play on words there.
*eyeroll*
posted by indubitable at 3:18 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
*eyeroll*
posted by indubitable at 3:18 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Fakht sayin'.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:21 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:21 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
It going to be hard to beat Dil Do Deewana as Bollywood title most amusing to anglophones
posted by Renoroc at 3:36 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Renoroc at 3:36 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
kandinski: ""clueless Anglophones" my sweet, bouncy, hard-toned, dancing in synch to Bollywood music ass. "
Are you free, Mr. Humphries?
posted by boo_radley at 3:36 PM on September 6, 2012 [6 favorites]
Are you free, Mr. Humphries?
posted by boo_radley at 3:36 PM on September 6, 2012 [6 favorites]
So, a country that uses English as an unofficial second language just happens to use a homophone that sounds like a rude word, in a period when the limits of Bollywood's moral scruples are being tested?
It's possible that it's just a coincidence. Like, fakht.
posted by The River Ivel at 3:38 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's possible that it's just a coincidence. Like, fakht.
posted by The River Ivel at 3:38 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
yup, it's just us dumbass anglophones. there's no way they might be making a play on words there.
Eyeroll duly noted and imitated. Based on my entirely anecdotal evidence (garnered through years of being a foul-mouthed English-speaker in Delhi), I'd wager that (among urban audiences, at least) "fuck" is a more widely known word in the Hindi belt than fakht.
(And let's not even get started on how many Hindi film actors, and increasingly a good number of scriptwriters, are native English speakers. Hell, some of the screenwriters write their screenplays in English, then translate them into Hindi.)
This certainly does go to show that Indian public discourse about Hindi cinema has shifted a great deal since, say, the public shitstorm around "Choli Ke Peeche" in 1993. (Translation of the chorus that caused the tizzy: "What's beneath my blouse? What's under my scarf? My heart!")
posted by artemisia at 3:38 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Eyeroll duly noted and imitated. Based on my entirely anecdotal evidence (garnered through years of being a foul-mouthed English-speaker in Delhi), I'd wager that (among urban audiences, at least) "fuck" is a more widely known word in the Hindi belt than fakht.
(And let's not even get started on how many Hindi film actors, and increasingly a good number of scriptwriters, are native English speakers. Hell, some of the screenwriters write their screenplays in English, then translate them into Hindi.)
This certainly does go to show that Indian public discourse about Hindi cinema has shifted a great deal since, say, the public shitstorm around "Choli Ke Peeche" in 1993. (Translation of the chorus that caused the tizzy: "What's beneath my blouse? What's under my scarf? My heart!")
posted by artemisia at 3:38 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm not saying it wasn't intentional. I'm just saying it's NSFW if your boss doesn't appreciate bilingual humor and just takes it as he hears it...
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:45 PM on September 6, 2012
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:45 PM on September 6, 2012
I'm not saying it wasn't intentional. I'm just saying it's NSFW if your boss doesn't appreciate bilingual humor and just takes it as he hears it.
Well in a more Fahkt, verdant and peaceful world....
posted by hal9k at 5:05 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
Well in a more Fahkt, verdant and peaceful world....
posted by hal9k at 5:05 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
It MUST be noted that the word "Fakht" is Hindi for "Just".
Meanwhile, the word jism...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:05 PM on September 6, 2012 [3 favorites]
Meanwhile, the word jism...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:05 PM on September 6, 2012 [3 favorites]
That reminds me a lot of this video.
I love the mixture of cultures here! It's got kind of an American pop feel to it, but it's still distinctly Bollywood.
posted by too bad you're not me at 5:07 PM on September 6, 2012
I love the mixture of cultures here! It's got kind of an American pop feel to it, but it's still distinctly Bollywood.
posted by too bad you're not me at 5:07 PM on September 6, 2012
It is a little disingenuous to post this without noting that the song's double meaning has indeed been appreciated in India, to the point where the song has been changed to "Just you" to avoid offending audiences. The alternate version video, which is so much less delightful, can be seen here.
posted by bookish at 5:45 PM on September 6, 2012
posted by bookish at 5:45 PM on September 6, 2012
Also I think 'fakht' is really a Marathi word.
posted by bookish at 5:46 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bookish at 5:46 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
so the lyric is "I Want Just You",
♩ ♩ ♪ ♪
I want to Just you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
♩ ♩ ♪ ♪
posted by ceribus peribus at 6:22 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
♩ ♩ ♪ ♪
I want to Just you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
♩ ♩ ♪ ♪
posted by ceribus peribus at 6:22 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
my sweet, bouncy, hard-toned, dancing in synch to Bollywood music ass
I wish to attend this exercise class.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:26 PM on September 6, 2012 [4 favorites]
I wish to attend this exercise class.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:26 PM on September 6, 2012 [4 favorites]
It going to be hard to beat Dil Do Deewana as Bollywood title most amusing to anglophones
What, you didn't see Jism?
Also, that link really shows how much Bollywood has changed even just in the last ten years. I remember when I was working on a Hindi language film and cramming as much recent Bollywood as I could (around 2005), things were much more chaste and also relied a lot more on Hindi song lyrics as opposed to English (also more traditionally Indian-sounding music).
I know that these films are marketed to the vast bulk of people in India who aren't native English speakers, but what happens to Bollywood in another ten years when everything is in English aside from the cutesy Marathi puns?
posted by Sara C. at 7:37 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
What, you didn't see Jism?
Also, that link really shows how much Bollywood has changed even just in the last ten years. I remember when I was working on a Hindi language film and cramming as much recent Bollywood as I could (around 2005), things were much more chaste and also relied a lot more on Hindi song lyrics as opposed to English (also more traditionally Indian-sounding music).
I know that these films are marketed to the vast bulk of people in India who aren't native English speakers, but what happens to Bollywood in another ten years when everything is in English aside from the cutesy Marathi puns?
posted by Sara C. at 7:37 PM on September 6, 2012 [1 favorite]
Of course, the innuendo is deliberate. The song title is in English; only the one word is in the vernacular. They could have used instead 'sirf' or 'bas' - or 'just'/'only' for that matter. This sort of crude & barely veiled faux-pun is part of the Bose D.K. stable.
posted by Gyan at 8:00 PM on September 6, 2012
posted by Gyan at 8:00 PM on September 6, 2012
Of course, the innuendo is deliberate.
Well, Bollywood is operating on the old truism: when good taste goes out the door, money comes innuendo.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:21 PM on September 6, 2012 [5 favorites]
Well, Bollywood is operating on the old truism: when good taste goes out the door, money comes innuendo.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:21 PM on September 6, 2012 [5 favorites]
It MUST be noted that the word "Fakht" is Hindi for "Just", so the lyric is "I Want Just You", but the audio may still be NSFW for clueless Anglophones.
So not being conversant in Hindi is sufficient to render one 'clueless' now?
posted by Afroblanco at 9:08 PM on September 6, 2012
So not being conversant in Hindi is sufficient to render one 'clueless' now?
posted by Afroblanco at 9:08 PM on September 6, 2012
So not being conversant in Hindi is sufficient to render one 'clueless' now?
हां
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:30 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
हां
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:30 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
Too drunk to fakht
Too drunk to fakht
Too drunk, to fakht
I'm too drunk, too drunk, too drunk
To fakht
posted by homunculus at 10:35 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
Too drunk to fakht
Too drunk, to fakht
I'm too drunk, too drunk, too drunk
To fakht
posted by homunculus at 10:35 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]
So not being conversant in Hindi is sufficient to render one 'clueless' now?
No, the clueless Anglophones - as opposed to clueFUL Anglophones - won't even think it could be a word in another language and complain that you're being obscene at your desk, therefore the conditional NSFW warning.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:52 PM on September 6, 2012
No, the clueless Anglophones - as opposed to clueFUL Anglophones - won't even think it could be a word in another language and complain that you're being obscene at your desk, therefore the conditional NSFW warning.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:52 PM on September 6, 2012
If I'm reading this video correctly, Catherine Zeta-Jones wants to bang me.
posted by chundo at 6:52 AM on September 7, 2012
posted by chundo at 6:52 AM on September 7, 2012
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posted by kandinski at 3:14 PM on September 6, 2012 [20 favorites]