This story is from January 15, 2011

Voices have faces too!

Their voice is what a face is to an actor. Is it time to speak up for recognition?
Voices have faces too!
Their voice is what a face is to an actor. Is it time to speak up for recognition?
It is the season of awards, they say. While actors prepare their acceptance speeches, there remains a group of unsung artistes in our country who seldom get any recognition. Unless, of course, there is a controversy at the National Awards. Actors, those who aren���������t still familiar with the language of their movies, seldom talk about the contribution of the dubbing artistes when their roles are appreciated.
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The end result is that these dubbing artistes remain perpetually in the wings. Unless, of course, they are as lucky as Kharaj Mukherjee or Rudranil Ghosh who have broken the barrier of just being men behind the mic.
Says Kharaj, ���������I���������ve dubbed for so many actors, including Rabi Ghose, Anup Kumar, Anil Chatterjee, Asrani, Ranjit Mallick, among others, that Kanchan calls me ���������Dub bikreta���������. I���������ve dubbed for as many number of films as Uttam has acted in. Directors have claimed to have loved my dubbing so much that they���������ve promised to give me roles. Had that been the case, I���������d have had as many number of films as an actor as Uttam Kumar. However, I have no regrets. Today, people can recognize my voice when I dub for animation films and commercials. I feel happy to have introduced the concept of ambience dubbing in mainstream Bengali cinema.���������
Rudranil Ghosh, who started his career with dubbing says that he used to earn `150 per project during his dubbing days in 2002-2004. ���������Back then, it was a huge amount for me. Dubbing for Raghubir Yadav in ���������Rasta��������� has been one of my most memorable experiences. Then, there was this assignment of dubbing for Yash Pandit in Anjan Das��������� ���������Faltu���������. Sometimes, it would be so frustrating to lend a voice to an actor from Mumbai since I knew I could do a better performance in the role. I had to literally struggle hard with a deep sense of anguish since, I knew, I would have done a better job, had I been given the same role.��������� The tables have turned for Rudranil, now, and he no longer needs to suffer from the anguish of dubbing for bad actors with star value. He is now essaying the lead role in ���������Chaplin���������.
Bidipta Chakraborty, who has dubbed for Raima Sen in ���������The Japanese Wife���������, Jaya Seal Ghosh in ���������Hothat Nirar Jonno��������� and Sameera Reddy for ���������Kaalpurush��������� and ���������Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala���������, says, ���������If an actor gets an award for a role that has been dubbed by me, I feel I should also get a part of that recognition. There are times when I have felt sad for not being offered the role for which I have been asked to dub. But I have never questioned the director���������s choice of actors. My vocal acting is good and I took it as a challenge to match my voice to a star���������s acting.��������� Her own dubbing assignments apart, she has loved how her sister,
Sudipta Chakraborty, dubbed for Raima Sen in ���������Chokher Bali��������� and Sabyasachi Chakraborty for Chiranjeet in ���������Bariwali���������. Sujan Mukhopadhyay, who dubbed for Rahul in ���������Chirodini... Tumi Je Amar��������� and Adil Hussain for ���������Iti Srikanta���������, says, ���������After my dubbing for Rahul clicked, I was flooded with such assignments and I had to honour some of the requests too. Since I am a performer, I don���������t like to encourage dubbing assignments. I don���������t want the world to know me because of this.���������
Shantilal Mukherjee, who has dubbed for Jackie Shroff in ���������Antarmahal���������, stopped dubbing as he thought the act was going against him as a performer. ���������There have been times when I have been cast in movies along with Mumbai actors. Since directors felt that my voice needed to be used for dubbing purposes, they later dropped me from the cast. That���������s when I decided not to dub for any other actor. I have got offers to dub for the likes of Mukesh Khanna and many other actors from Bollywood who are trying their luck in Bengali movies. But I haven���������t taken them up. I think, Sudip Mukherjee has dubbed for those.��������� Nilanjana Biswas, who has dubbed for Rekha in ���������Yatra���������, Angana Basu in ���������Shukno Lanka��������� and Bibi Russell in ���������Moner Manush���������, feels that the reason why stars often underplay the fact that their voices are dubbed could be because they feel revealing it would make the world think that they are not fully competent as actors. But this logic could also be countered considering that a star doesn���������t go on to claim that a playback singer���������s voice is his. ���������Anganadi had appreciated me when I dubbed for her lines. I wish, other actors, too, were forthcoming.���������Sujan Mukhopadhyay says the minimum that should be paid for dubbing for a hero���������s voice is `15,000. But Nilanjana says, ���������Even if we quote `12,000, it makes people feel uneasy. As for recognition, forget feature films, even when my team dubbed for the Bengali version of ���������Tintin���������, we hardly got any recognition. It���������s the love for dubbing that makes us want to continue with this art.���������
Is anyone listening?
Sudipta Chakraborty: Raima Sen in ���������Chokher Bali���������
Sreela Majumdar: Aishwarya in ���������Chokher Bali���������
Sohini Halder: Bipasha Basu in ���������Shob Charitro Kalponik���������
Bidipta Chakraborty: Raima Sen in ���������The Japanese Wife��������� and Sameera Reddy in ���������Kaalpurush��������� and ���������Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala���������
Sujan Mukhopadhyay: Rahul in ���������Chirodini... Tumi Je Amar���������
Kaushik Chakraborty: Dibyendu Mukherjee in ���������Nondinee���������
Shankar Chakrabarty: Indraneil Sengupta in ���������Bedeni���������
Abir Chatterjee: Indraneil Sengupta in ���������Angshumaner Chhobi���������
Nilanjana Biswas: Angana Basu in ���������Shukno Lanka��������� and Bibi Russell in ���������Moner Manush��������� and Jaya Prada in ���������Sesh Sanghat���������
Shantilal Mukherjee: Jackie Shroff in ���������Antarmahal���������
Rimjhim Mitra:Soha Ali Khan in ���������Antarmahal���������
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