Urdu has received massive support from Bollywood, says Vice President Hamid Ansari

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari credited Bollywood for giving a new lease of life to Urdu language by popularising it through films.

"In the last 20 years the support Urdu has got in Mumbai film industry is massive. In a way, Bollywood has given a new lease of life to Urdu language by popularising it through films," he said addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Urdu Daily "Daily Salar" in Bengaluru.

Urdu language is popular due to its romantic and revolutionary spirit, and love can only be better expressed in Urdu language than any other in the world, Ansari said.

"Why Urdu is so popular? There are two reasons for it - the spirit of Urdu is revolutionary and romantic. We have seen the face of revolutionary Urdu during the struggle for Indian Independence - many things have been written about it. When it comes to expressing love, there is no other language better than Urdu in the world," he said.

Expressing his happiness, Ansari said Urdu has been getting much support in America and Canada.

"Earlier, Urdu was being taught in Germany, France and Britain, but now it is being taught in American and Canadian universities. It is certainly a global language," he said. Ansari was also happy to note that Urdu enjoyed the status of second largest spoken language in Karnataka.

Not only that, after Hindi and English, Urdu is the most spoken language in India, Ansari said and added that there has been a lot of work going on the internet on the language.