Hyderabad: Bollywood actor Jaaved Jaaferi has sparked a fresh conversation around Urdu with a point many people may not have thought about before, in a resurfaced clip. The actor and performer explained why Urdu, according to him, is not just known for its poetry and tehzeeb, but also for the way it helps people pronounce words from different languages with ease.
In the video, Jaaved says, “Yeh Urdu ki khaasiyat hai, agar aap Urdu pronounce kar sakte hain toh duniya ki koi bhi bhasha pronounce kar sakte hain.” According to him, Urdu gives its speakers a natural advantage because the language carries sounds, words and influences from different parts of the world.
He then explains how languages like Russian, French and German use sounds from different areas of the throat and mouth, including the epiglottis, and draws a parallel with Urdu. Jaaved points out that Urdu speakers are already familiar with a wide phonetic range, which helps them pick up global accents and foreign pronunciations with more ease.
What makes his take interesting is the way he connects this to the history of Urdu itself. Urdu did not grow in isolation. It came together through a mix of cultures, regions and languages, with influences from Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi and several other linguistic traditions. That blend, Jaaved suggests, is what makes Urdu so rich and flexible.
He also calls it an unnoticed fact about the language. While Urdu is often praised for its poetry, romance and tehzeeb, Jaaved highlights another side of it, its sound structure. For him, the beauty of Urdu is not only in its words, but also in the way it trains the tongue to move across different kinds of sounds.
Whether one agrees with the claim fully or not, Jaaved’s explanation has surely opened up a fresh conversation around Urdu. At a time when languages are often reduced to identity debates, his take reminds people of Urdu’s artistic, cultural and linguistic depth.
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