India's subtle subtitle strategy
Doordarshan's SLS aiming to aid literacy
The project by pubcaster Doordarshan is the brainchild of communications expert Brij Kothari, who got the idea while watching a Spanish film as a student. He wished the subtitles were in Spanish rather than English so he could learn the language.
Kothari, who holds a doctorate in education from Cornell U. in the U.S., developed same-language subtitles (SLS) in India, using the popular song-and-dance sequences in Indian films to help the barely literate start to read.
Doordarshan bought the idea and began screening SLS content four years ago, reaching an estimated 180 million people.
Subtitles are soon to be introduced in another five of India's 17 official languages, Kothari says. "This is the most ambitious stage of the project. We will be able to reach 300 million people." With Google Foundation, the charity branch of the Internet search giant, backing the project, Kothari wants to introduce the concept in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
For the pubcaster, the SLS project has meant more viewers.
"Our ratings have gone up because lyrics of Bollywood films are very popular," says L.D. Mandloi, deputy director general at Doordarshan.
