Voice, they say is a person’s personal asset which is easily identified. And the one issue that irritates many actors and actresses in Hindi film industry is of someone else rendering a voice to the actor. Rimi Sen, Koena Mitra, Bipasha Basu, Lisa Ray, Vasundhara Das and Katrina Kaif are some of the actresses who faced similar problems earlier.

Films normally employ two methods for recording a voice. The commonly used one is that of post production dubbing, though recently, many films like Lagaan, Swades, Masti, Monsoon Wedding and Lakshya have employed sync sound, wherein the voices are recorded once and for all during the shoot. A professional dubbing artiste is employed to dub for an actor or an actress, for more reasons than one. Some directors who are not happy with the voice quality of the actor, decide to employ the service of a professional dubbing artiste, whose voice closely matches the actor in question.

“In over 90 per cent of such cases, the voice gets dubbed because it is either not good enough, or of a language barrier,” says actor Sanjay Kapoor, “The remaining 10 per cent involves the actor’s non-availability, or to some extent money matters,” he adds.

In some cases this happens when the actor does not speak the language in which the film is being made and the director is left with no choice but to use a dubbing artiste. It commonly happens with Southern actors who act in Hindi films. Dubbing also takes place for foreign films when they are converted into local languages, like The Incredibles, Harry Potter etc.

As and when a voice is dubbed, two things happen. One the actor in question gets upset, and two the original flavour of the character is lost while dubbing his or her voice. For actors, their voices are as much a part and parcel of their identities, as their faces and physique. Taking away one aspect of their personality from them is extremely irritating. Very few actors were pretty vocal on this point. Kay Kay Menon, known for some good performances in films like Sarkaar, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, and Hazaaron Kwaishein Aisi, says, “ I would be terribly annoyed, if my voice were to be dubbed. The voice is a very important tool, which the actor uses to convey his voice over talent. Once in a while, if the voice has to be dubbed, because of a language barrier or non-availability, it is fine, but dubbing the voice is something that no one likes. It’s almost as bad as changing the face of the actor in question. Thankfully, I have never faced this problem, and I have myself dubbed for all my roles.”

Is there a remedy for this, one asks. To a certain extent, yes. Most actors don’t really undertake any specific training in terms of voice and dialogue delivery. Says singer and actress Vasundhara Das, who regaled audiences in films like Monsoon Wedding and Hey Ram. “My initial films were in sync sound, and hence when I had to dub for a film later, I found it very unnatural. To reproduce the nuances, the expressions, emotions and feelings at a later date in a studio is a task bordering on the impossible. In Filmstar, someone else dubbed for me, and I felt very upset and violated, as if someone had taken a part of me away. My voice and me are a package, and I detest the idea of my voice getting substituted.”

Many forget that using one’s voice effectively is as important as using ones expressions and histrionics, on the screen. The voice frequently becomes one’s USP (unique selling proposition) and trademark. The best examples to date in Hindi cinema are Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri, Suresh Oberoi, Raza Murad and Raaj Kumar. Says Vasundhara Das, “abroad, actors spend an equal amount of time on developing and improving their voice skills, as they do on acting, but here, no one seems to be genuinely interested. The audience too is rarely exacting or demanding, and hence mediocre work keeps getting tolerated.”

Nowadays, many young actors and actresses are educated in English, and are not very comfortable speaking Hindi. Their diction and accent is mediocre, and dialogue delivery too poor. One such upcoming Parsi actor, who initially struggled, was Kurush Deboo, who was cast as Dr. Rustom Pavri, in Munnabhai MBBS. But Kurush remians one of the few who took extensive training in voice, so that the audience were surprised to hear him speak in Page 3. Says Sanjay Kapoor, “Today, many youngsters take great pride in developing their bodies and their skills at doing stunts and dancing. When it comes to dubbing, many are only too happy to let someone else do it. If an actor is committed, he or she should work on improving one’s dialogue delivery and voice.

Actress Sridevi initially had her voice dubbed, as Hindi was a problem. But she took pains to learn the language, and it showed in her later films like Chaalbaaz and Judaai, where she not only won accolades for her performance but for her own voice too. Same holds true for Rani Mukerji.

Whereas actress Sonali Kulkarni differs in her opinion, “I have dubbed for a Marathi version of the film Astitva, for Tabu. Though Tabu was good at Marathi, there were certain nuances to the language that can only be brought out by someone, who is familiar with the language. And the whole thing turned out too well. Down South, actress Rohini dubbed for me for a Tamil film called May Madham, and she did a fantastic job. If it is artistically done, dubbing by someone else is not bad. I love my dubbing sessions, and manage to get credit and praise from the studio staff. But if someone tries to dub my voice without informing me, I’ll raise a hell.”

Though voice and diction training is a part and parcel of the curriculum of most acting schools, most students do not get the necessary training and practice, and are often left to fend for themselves. In abroad, most films employ voice coaches for training the actors in rendering their own voice. Many films have a coach for each actor. Apart from helping the actors in diction, accent, voice modulation and dialogue delivery, these coaches also help them with voice styling, where the actors are taught to use their voices in a particular fashion, to suit the situation and character. Indian films are lacking in the basics of voice, and concepts like voice grooming and styling are alien and seem too far away.

Source: screenindia.com