‘Mein ek bahut hi achcha ladka hoon...’ Good Hindi, Shayan

Surely Shayan Munshi will recognise these lines. They are his, in reasonably good Hindi, from the runaway hit Jhankar Beats.

Yet Shayan, the model-turned actor and a key witness in the trial of the Jessica Lall murder case, told the court that he neither knew Hindi nor what the police had written in Hindi in the FIR he had lodged initially. His retraction of the statement indicting prime accused Manu Sharma was one of the key factors which led to the acquittal of all nine accused in the case.

In its March 13 appeal in the Delhi High Court, Delhi Police pointed out that Shayan had a basic idea of Hindi since he studied the language till Class VII and had worked in Hindi films too.

“He speaks reasonably good Hindi,” she said.

Currently, Shayan has two film projects in hand: Amar Joshi Shaheed Ho Gaya and The Bong Connection. Shahwar Ali, model and co-actor in Amar Joshi..., said: “He does know a bit of Hindi, though he is not perfect at it.” His teachers at the Don Bosco School in Kolkata’s Park Circus too vouch for his knowledge of Hindi.

Rekha Shaw, his former Hindi teacher, said: “He had Hindi as a third language and he was a good student. Such a student will remember to read, write as well as speak Hindi.” Maths teacher Swapan Adhikary said: “Until Class VIII, both Bengali and Hindi are compulsory. Though English is our primary language, there’s no reason he cannot read or write Hindi.”

The Special Investigation Team in Delhi has obtained his school certificate which mentions he opted for Hindi as an optional language in Class V and studied the language upto High School. During his questioning yesterday, the Special Investigation Team confronted him with this fact.

... contd.