'Radhe Shyam', 'RRR': How The Pan-India Wave Is Affecting The Hindi Dubbing Industry

Over the last two years, film industries across India are interacting a lot more with each other than before. Films from Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam industries are releasing in a 'Pan India' format, reaching the Hindi speaking markets as well. However, it is only in recent times that actors from South industries are opting to dub in Hindi on their own, instead of having a dubbing artist do the job. After dubbing in Hindi for 'Saaho', actor Prabhas has again dubbed in Hindi for 'Radhe Shyam', whereas Telugu star Jr NTR has dubbed in Hindi for the first time for filmmaker SS Rajamouli's 'RRR'.

Now, here's the question, if superstars dub for their own part in Hindi versions of their films and this trend is encouraged in times to come, where does it leave the Hindi dubbing artists, whose only source of livelihood is giving voice to the Hindi versions of  blockbuster South films?

On an average, a dubbing artist gives three to four days while dubbing for a leading south star. Their fees depend on how big an actor is and what kind of platform the film is releasing on. While many dubbing artists also act in projects, things have been difficult for them, especially in the last two years with productions being stalled. In such times, the only way they can run their households is by dubbing for films.

Sophia Vij, Mumbai-based dubbing director, who coordinated with various dubbing artists for films, tells us, "Obviously it (Hindi dubbing artists) will be affected. Many films come to us from the South. A few dubbing artists act also but there is not much for them right now. There are so many good artists just sitting and earning through dubbing. Our efforts will always be to find more work for dubbing artists."

Renowned dubbing artist Sanket Mhatre, who is known for lending his voice to Telugu superstar Allu Arjun's films, highlights key aspects to the growth of Hindi dubbing industry.

"It has always been a film studio's call as to who gets to dub what character. There are several films where voice over artists are replaced by celebrities under a marketing call and they are expecting to make more money if a celebrity face is attached. My take on this is that honestly the voice over industry, especially the Hindi dubbing industry is at a very nascent stage in India...There are many senior voice over artists, directors and writers who have worked over the years to create this foundation where it has now become financially viable...So, I find it quite unfair that an industry, which has toiled for decades to come to a world standard in terms of quality of delivering, is just replaced by a certain celebrity.  Not even in terms of the voice matching but just the name of it. I always reiterate, replace a voice for a voice. It doesn't matter if the voice belongs to a tailor or anyone, but as long as it matches with the voice of the character, then go for it. That is what the field is about but don't replace the voice for the face."

Films from southern industries get a great response on their Hindi satellite dubbed versions, making the face of an actor known in the Hindi-speaking territories. It is the hard work of these dubbing artists that should be accounted for.

"It's only these big films that these actors attempt to do it themselves, because the dubbing industry has been getting these actors popular, with so many artists' work and actors becoming a household thing with people watching it online, on YouTube. It is because of that, that these actors are risking a Pan India release. It's almost like all these dubbing artists have worked over the years to make someone like for instance an Allu Arjun become a household name in the North and now he can stand on those shoulders and release his movie in the theatre. I am speaking in terms of all the actors, for whom these dubbing artists have worked towards in Hindi to make them a household name, to a degree that they can pitch a theatre release for them," says Mhatre.

Telugu star Rana Daggubati was last seen in the trilingual film 'Aranya', which was called 'Kaadan' in Tamil and 'Haathi Mere Saathi' in Hindi. Instead of getting a dubbing artist on board, the actor dubbed for Tamil and Hindi on his own.

Known for giving a voice over for Prabhas's Hindi films,Abhishek Singh, who has also dubbed for Karthikeyan Gummakonda in 'Rx 100', believes that audience often catches the difference in films when the dubbing is done by a South actor and do not connect with a film on subconscious level.

"If South artists dub in Hindi, their tone is bound to come. You cannot change that. When the Hindi audience sees it, they subconsciously notice and don't accept it. When we perform any dialogues, we generate a feel to it. When South actors do it, they miss this feel and the public can't connect with it. No doubt that they give great expressions but when they speak in Hindi, they often miss a few emotions and that always gets noticed. 'Saaho' was such a big film but Hindi audiences couldn't accept it because they couldn't build that attachment, whereas 'Pushpa', 'KGF' or 'Jai Bhim' were dubbed and the audience loved it."

While the Pan-India phenomenon does have leading actors dubbing in Hindi on their own, the success of South films has encouraged a new trend. After the success of 'Pushpa: The Rise' recently, Allu Arjun's 2019 Telugu blockbuster 'Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo' will now release in Hindi as well, whereas Ram Charan's 2018 film 'Rangasthalam' too will be released in Hindi.

Does this mean more work for Hindi dubbing artists?

Dubbing artist Mayur Vyas, who is known for lending his voice to superstar Rajinikanth and has given voice overs for several artists like Vijay Sethupathi, Vijay Deverakonda, Aadi amongst others, says, "In a way it is good because the quantity of work increases but unfortunately while new films have really good budgets to pay out and the old films, which will be released now in Hindi will go to satellite or OTT and therefore despite of having a good budget, the production houses or agencies which are getting it dubbed, will not release the same budget to the dubbing artists. So, that way, we are getting work but not at a fair price. It's a plus and minus situation. If there is a theatrical release of a new film, the dubbing artist can really demand but if an old film gets released in Hindi it doesn't really affect the dubbing artist's earning."