Ananya Panday has been taking her Indian identity to some of the world’s biggest fashion and entertainment events this year. From appearances at Paris and New York Fashion Weeks to the US Open and collaborations with international luxury names, the actor has increasingly found herself on global platforms.
But during a recent international event, it was not fashion that put Ananya’s Hindi skills to the test. Instead, she was asked to explain Hindi words and expressions that can be difficult to capture with a single English equivalent.
The actor attended Prime Video’s Obsessed Retreat: Class of ’26 in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, representing her popular Indian series Call Me Bae Season 2. The global gathering celebrated young-storytelling and brought together stars from several international shows.
Ananya interacted with actors including Damian Hardung of Maxton Hall, Lili Reinhart, Ester Expósito, Pau Simón and Belmont Cameli.
During two videos from the event, one of which was later deleted, the 27-year-old was asked to name Hindi words or phrases that do not have a straightforward English equivalent. She was also asked for Hindi equivalents of expressions such as “gossip”, “I’m down” and “bro”.
The conversation offers an interesting reminder of how much meaning can get lost when culturally specific words are translated literally.
Here are nine commonly used Hindi words and expressions whose meaning goes beyond a simple English translation.
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1. Jugaad
Few words capture an everyday aspect of Indian problem-solving quite like jugaad.
It broadly refers to finding an improvised, practical or unconventional solution when the obvious option is unavailable. Depending on the context, it can describe clever resourcefulness, a makeshift arrangement or simply finding a way to get something done.
While “hack”, “workaround” or “improvisation” can sometimes convey the idea, none completely captures the cultural familiarity of the word jugaad in everyday Indian conversation.
2. Jootha
Jootha is another word whose meaning can be difficult to convey with one English word.
It is commonly used for food, drinks or utensils that someone has already eaten from or drunk from. For example, if a person bites into a piece of food or drinks directly from a bottle and then offers it to someone else, the item may be described as jootha.
The word also carries a strong cultural context because sharing someone’s jootha food or drink may be considered inappropriate in many Indian households.
3. Lafda
Lafda is an informal word that can refer to trouble, a quarrel, dispute or messy situation.
Its meaning changes depending on how it is used. Someone might describe a street fight as a lafda, but the word can also be used for a controversy, complicated problem or situation that has created trouble.
Words such as “fight”, “mess”, “trouble” or “controversy” may work in individual contexts, but lafda has a broader and more casual flavour.
4. Chamcha
Literally, chamcha means “spoon”. In colloquial Hindi, however, it can describe a person who constantly flatters or agrees with someone more powerful.
A chamcha may be compared with a “yes-man”, “sycophant” or “bootlicker” in English. The word is often used for someone who appears eager to please a boss, influential person or superior, sometimes to gain an advantage.
Its literal meaning and slang meaning are therefore worlds apart.
5. Ghanta
Ghanta literally means “bell”, but Hindi slang uses the word very differently.
In informal speech, phrases containing ghanta can express dismissal, disbelief, “nothing”, “not at all” or “nonsense”, depending on context and tone.
It is generally considered slang rather than a straightforward neutral expression, and its tone can range from humorous to dismissive or derogatory.
6. Jethani
English often uses the broad term “sister-in-law” for several different relationships. Hindi, however, has specific kinship terms that identify the precise relationship between family members.
Jethani refers to a woman’s husband’s elder brother’s wife.
The distinction illustrates how Indian languages can encode family relationships with a level of specificity that may require an entire phrase in English. Such kinship terminology remains an important part of everyday language and cultural understanding in many Indian families.
7. Dhakkan
Dhakkan literally means “lid” or “cover”, such as the lid of a container.
In casual Hindi, however, calling someone a dhakkan means suggesting that the person is foolish, slow to understand or a bit of a dimwit.
The humorous quality comes partly from the contrast between the harmless literal meaning and the way the word is used as an insult in conversation.
8. Raabta
Raabta, a word with Urdu roots that is also widely used in Hindi and popular culture, broadly refers to a connection, contact or relationship.
But its emotional meaning can go deeper than the literal translations suggest. In poetry, songs and romantic conversations, raabta can describe a special bond or an intangible connection between people.
“Connection” is the closest common English equivalent, but the word can carry a more emotional or poetic sense depending on the context.
9. Chai-Pani
Literally translating to “tea and water”, chai-pani has another widely understood colloquial meaning in certain contexts.
The expression can be used euphemistically to refer to money offered as an unofficial payment or bribe, particularly when someone wants to avoid directly calling it a bribe.
Its meaning depends heavily on context, making a literal translation misleading.
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Why Hindi Can Be Difficult to Translate Word for Word
Ananya Panday’s language challenge highlights something that happens with many Indian languages: a word may have a perfectly understandable dictionary meaning but acquire an entirely different cultural or emotional dimension in everyday speech.
Words such as jugaad, lafda and raabta can be translated depending on the sentence, but their full flavour often comes from how and where they are used.
The same applies to kinship terms such as jethani. Rather than using one broad expression for several family relationships, Hindi traditionally offers specific words for different relationships and generational positions.
For an actor representing Indian entertainment at international events, explaining such vocabulary is also a small demonstration of the cultural nuances that do not always travel neatly from one language to another.
Ananya’s appearance at the Prime Video retreat therefore became more than another international celebrity outing. It also offered a light-hearted glimpse into the richness—and occasional difficulty—of taking everyday Indian language to a global audience.
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