HT Cafe

Samajh gaya? That’s what John Cena said to The Great Khali

- Samarth Goyal samarth.goyal@htlive.com

John Cena is in love with India. In fact, the 40-yearold superstar wrestler, actor and rapper even learned some Hindi to talk to The Great Khali, the Indian star of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainm­ent). It was only a little bit, but Cena did get a killer line: “Samajh gaya?”

“I don’t remember much of it because it used to be part of a script. The only little part that I remember and still use it with Indians are two words: ‘Samajh gaya?’ I think it means ‘Did you understand?’ When I say ‘samajh gaya?’, and I get a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, I know I’m understand­ing them, and they can follow me,” says Cena, speaking to HT from Australia, while promoting his upcoming film, Ferdinand.

Cena says, “It’s great to see so many wrestlers of Indian origin, like Khali and now Jinder Mahal, do so well. I mean, I was a fan of WWE when I was a kid, and I am now one of the wrestlers, [one] who is a sixteen-time champion. So it’s a natural progressio­n, and hopefully there will be more wrestlers from India.”

Even though his last visit to India was in 2005, Cena still has fond memories of what he saw. “I cannot tell you what a wonderful trip that was to India. It was the best experience I’ve ever had, and something I never witnessed before, or after, in my life,” says Cena, adding that he is “fortunate” to have “so many Indian fans”. Injury led to a cancelled visit to India two years ago, and Cena will also miss a WWE ‘supershow’ in Delhi this month, but, he says, “I can’t wait to go [to India] and meet my fans again.”

 ?? HT PHOTO ?? The Great Khali is India’s most famous name in show wrestling Wrestler John Cena learned Hindi to speak to The Great Khali
HT PHOTO The Great Khali is India’s most famous name in show wrestling Wrestler John Cena learned Hindi to speak to The Great Khali

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