Guide
Hinglish and Roman Urdu captions: native script or Roman letters?
By the Samsaam team · Published · Updated · 4 min read
Caption in Roman letters (Hinglish, Roman Urdu) when your audience reads Hindi or Urdu mostly on phones and social media, where Latin-script typing is the norm, or when you want one caption that both Hindi and Urdu speakers can read. Caption in native script (Devanagari, Nastaliq) for formal, news, devotional or literary content, and for audiences who expect it.
Why Roman-letter captions are so common
Spoken Hindi and Urdu are very close, but they are written in completely different scripts — Devanagari left to right, Nastaliq right to left. Roman letters remove that split: “Aap kaise hain?” reads the same for both audiences. Roman script is also how many people type Hindi and Urdu in chats and comments, so it feels native on social platforms.
Native script vs Roman letters
| Native (Devanagari / Nastaliq) | Roman (Hinglish / Roman Urdu) | |
|---|---|---|
| Example | आप कैसे हैं? / آپ کیسے ہیں؟ | Aap kaise hain? |
| Reach | One script audience | Hindi and Urdu speakers, and the diaspora |
| Spelling | Standardised | Varies (hai / hay / he) |
| Tone | Formal, literary, news | Casual, social, creator |
| English words mixed in | Transliterated into the script | Kept as normal English |
How to make Hinglish or Roman Urdu captions in Samsaam
- Upload your video.
- Choose Hindi or Urdu as the language — or Hinglish / Roman for Hindi-Urdu speech you want written in English letters.
- Pick Roman as the caption script (or Native for Devanagari or Nastaliq).
- Check spellings of names and slang, then style and export.
The same Native/Roman choice exists for the other non-Latin languages, including Bangla, Punjabi, Tamil, Pashto and Sindhi — see all 90+ languages.
Consistency tips for Roman captions
- Pick one spelling for common words (hai, nahi, bhi) and keep it across a series.
- Keep English words in their English spelling.
- Avoid diacritics — viewers read Roman Urdu and Hinglish without them.
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