When all the alternate language commentators introduced themselves during the broadcast today, I decided to watch the Punjabi Prison match with Hindi commentary because I had a lot of questions about Jinder and his portrayal. When the Zayn-Kanelis match ended, I switched to Hindi and it was just fascinating. Some notes below
First thing to make clear, there was literally no question who was the face and who was the heel. Jinder was the all conquering hero and Orton was the evil American
When Jinder came to the ring, both the commentators ran down his accomplishments and ended with "1.3 Billion people are supporting him, and that will lead him to victory today"
When Orton came down to the ring, they barely acknowledged his existence instead focusing on "Jinder agreed to face Randy in this match despite knowing he would have no backup. What a display of bravery"
"India stands with Jinder" was the entire message on commentary
Even the Hindi commentary could not sell "Jinder has an advantage in the Punjabi Prison Match because he is from Punjab" angle
Jinder was addressed by the honorific "Jinderji" or "Maharaja Sahab" which is like saying "The esteemed Jinder" or "The respected Maharaja"
One of the commentators kept saying "Randy Mahal" for some reason before correcting himself every time
Jinder bravely preventing Orton from exiting the inner cage, but how dare Orton stand in Jinder's way???
When the Singh Brothers pulled Jinder out, the commentators actively mocked Orton for being stuck in the inner cage
On that note, why are the Singh Brothers here? Because they want to ensure that only a deserving person is Champion, and Jinder is the only deserving person in this match
When the Singh Brothers attacked Orton, the commentary first egged them on, and then when Orton turned the tables, it became "What a brave fight by the Singh Brothers who are fighting someone twice their size"
When Orton got the Kendo stick and Jinder begged, they were besides themselves and said "Jinder shouldn't reduce himself to begging for mercy, he is better than this."
When the Singh brother was sent through the table and the other one was dispatched by a chair, the commentators said "The Singh Brothers showing us what the word 'loyalty' truly means. They are putting themselves on the line for Jinder"
When Orton attacked Jinder with the steel chair, the commentators were livid "How dare he use a steel chair, I can understand using a Lathi (indian version of Kendo stick) but a steel chair is going too far, he wants to end the Maharaja's career"
When The Great Khali came out, I am pretty sure both commentators jizzed in their pants right there. One of them sounded like the football commentators who scream "GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL". That moment alone was worth watching the match in Hindi (I would highly recommend you watch that moment on the Hindi commentary, it is at 3:06:00 and you don't even need to know Hindi to feel the commentator's excitement) ETA: Streamable link of part of the overall ending, but includes Khali's entrance in Hindi:
https://streamable.com/f473u
They ended it with "This is patriotism. This is what it means to have the back of your brother (brother not in the "They are related" sense). India is proud of its two sons who are standing tall"
From start to finish, this match was just fascinating with Hindi commentary. It is a completely different alternate universe with that commentary. The narrative itself changed to "That evil American Randy Orton will do anything to take away Jinder's title".
Will definitely go back and watch previous PPVs with Hindi commentary now to see how they tackle Jinder's matches.
