Arvind Kumar, best known for creating Samantar Kosh, the first-ever thesaurus in Hindi, after 20 years of painstaking research and imagination, single-handedly, without financial aid from any individual or institution.

This bilingual 48-minute film shot with latest technology documents Arvind’s 75-year-long journey in the creative world of words as writer-journalist-lexicographer. A journey that begins as the 15-year-old Arvind enters a printing press as a mere typesetter, takes him to the pinnacle of journalism, and then how a long-cherished wish for a thesaurus in Hindi makes him give up the glamorous job as founder-editor of the highly respectable film magazine Madhuri and plunges him into the vast ocean of words from where he emerges after 20 years of solitary endeavor as the creator of India’s first modern thesaurus – Samantar Kosh Hindi Thesaurus.

While the film seeks to take Arvind’s pioneering work in the field of Hindi and English-Hindi bilingual lexicography to the world, especially to all those who study and work in the areas of language and literature, arts, and culture, the film has a wider and larger appeal. Indeed, Arvind’s life is a source of inspiration for all… especially the Youth who can be enthused to dream, and then like Arvind, work towards the dream with diligence, dedication, and devotion, overcoming all challenges that come their way. 

The treatment of the film is uniquely interesting and quite unlike most documentaries The story of Arvind Kumar is told from the perspective of words. It begins with a rap on words, their importance in life, their magic… and then‘Word’ as the ‘sutradhaar’ or narrator of the film, in the voice of veteran storyteller Neelesh Misra, tells the story of a man called Arvind Kumar who spent his life collecting, comprehending and collating them (that is words) to create unique lexical tools for society. 

The narrative is befittingly interspersed with interviews with Arvind himself and people who were close to him including personalities including Dr Shashi Tharoor, Dr Karan Singh, Dr Shyam Benegal and many more. Music forms an integral part of the film – three songs (including the rap) have been composed by Abhilekh Lal and sung by the youthful Shaan, Pawni Pandey and the rapper Shaikhspeare.

The film ends on a positive note and echoes Arvind’s philosophy on the ever-changing world of words as languages change and evolve over time.

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