Pronunciation advice - Oscar winners Jean Dujardin and Michel Hazanavicius

When Frenchman descend on Oscar nights, it creates a pronunciation nightmare for the general English speaking world. 

The Best Actor winner is Jean Dujardin whose name is pronounced as zhawn do-zhar-da(n) (rhymes with van)

In Hindi, it would read as शॉन दूशारदॅन. The last 'न' is nasalised and pronounced like "मैं". The "श" is just an approximation for the sound which comes in televi'zh'un. 

The Best Director went to Michel Hazanavicius which is pronounced as me-shell ah-zah-nuh-we-SEE-us

मीशेल आज़ानअविसीअस is how it would read in Hindi. 

By the way the best foreign film went to the Iranian film which is being called "The Separation". But the actual name of the film is Jodai-e Nadar az Simin (The separation of Nadar from Simin) and it is pronounced as jew-thy-eh-nadir us sim-in. जुदाई ए नादिर अज़ सिमिन is how it would read in Hindi. 

Pronunciation advice - Mohammad Nasheed

The President of Maldives resigned recently. His name is pronounced as moe-hum-mud nush-eid. Please note that he himself pronounces his name with a hard D at the end, whereas the Arabic root ends with the soft French D sound. 

If you can read Hindi, his own pronunciation and the proper Arabic pronunciation are both given below. Choose whichever you are comfortable with. 

मोहम्मद नशीड (his own)

मोहम्मद नशीद (Arabic)

Pronunciation advice - Lakshman Savadi, Krishna Palemar and C C Patil

Three Karnataka ministers were allegedly watching porn clips in the assembly. Patil is the minister for women and child development. They later claimed that someone had sent them a video clip of a victim of abuse. When I first heard their excuse, my face started turning blue and red alternately. A considerable feat, considering my base colour is black. Nonetheless, the names in question are Lakshman Savadi, Krishna Palemar and C C Patil. The first name is pronounced as lux-mun (rhymes with bun) suh-vuh-di (soft d). The second name is pronounced as crish-nuh paa-Lemarr. The third name is pronounced as  part-eel.

If you can read Hindi, it reads as लक्ष्मण सवदि, कृष्णअ पालेमार  and सी सी पाटील. The 'ले' sound in 'पालेमार' is the shorter vowel sound. 

Pronunciation advice - Rigmor Aasrud

The Norwegian IT minister who is currently in India is Rigmor Aasrud. Her name is pronounced as rig-more oss-rue. If you can read Hindi, this reads as रिगमोर ऑसरू.

You can listen to her pronouncing her own name at this link. 

Pronunciation advice - Justice Bannurmath

The Karnataka governor has rejected the government's nomination for the state's Lokayukta. The gentleman in question was the former chief justice of Kerala. His name is Justice S R Bannurmath. His name would be pronounced as bun-noor (rhymes with poor, pronounced the American way) -mutt. If you can read Hindi, his name reads as बन्नूरमठ  or बन्नूर्मठ. In KannaDa, this would read as ಬನ್ನೂರಮಠ

Pronunciation advice - Dassault Rafale

The French company which has won an arms deal from the IAF is pronounced as dass-sue (the d sound is soft) hair-faal. In Hindi this would read as दॅसू हॅफ़ाल.