I've been dubbing my own lines in Tamil for some time now.
I have been dubbing since 2006.
After dubbing my lines for the first time, I'd say it's more difficult than performing in front of the camera.
I was always quite good with accents - I always had quite a good ear - so from the age of about 13, I used to do a lot of voiceover and dubbing for foreign films.
I've dubbed for as many number of films as Uttam Kumar has acted in. However, dubbing artistes are never given a recognition and are expected to be conditioned to that too.
I have always been complimented that my voice matches all actors like Shahid Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan.
In Sweden, they broadcast the American shows in English with Swedish subtitles, whereas in many European countries they dub them. Watching those shows in English was big for me.
I'm really not a fan of voiceovers; I think they become a crutch.
I've dubbed for the likes of Rabi Ghose, Anup Kumar, Anil Chatterjee, Asrani, Ranjit Mallick, among others.
I wish people could get over the hang-up of subtitles, although at the same time, you know, that's kind of why I'm kind of pro dubbing.
I dubbed for the first time in 'Ko Ko' and I found it good as I finished it in three days.
One of the conventions that I always liked was Doctor Zhivago, where everything that's written on the screen is in Russian but everyone speaks English. That seemed to me to be quite a good convention to follow.
'Selvandhan' is my first dubbed venture, which will release simultaneously with the original. It is a family drama. It has familiar Tamil faces, and I hope it does well.
In 1984, I starred in 'Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan,' my first movie. My lines ended up being dubbed by Glenn Close, supposedly because my accent was 'too southern'. It was completely humiliating at the time. I became a laughing stock. I'm amazed that I managed to pick myself up and dust myself off.
I guess voice acting is just fun, interesting to say...but it is.
Of all my dubbing projects, the toughest one has been 'Eega!'
Speaking in broken Telugu is one thing, and dubbing is another.
It's true in most movies I don't use my own voice.
You should hear the guy who dubs me in Japan. I like him the most. He has a high squeaky voice.
If there's a scene in which I need to cry or emote heavily, I just take care of it during the dubbing sessions.
Animated films are so precisely engineered - right down to forming lines of dialogue with words pulled from several different takes - how do you translate that spontaneity from the live-action to the digital realm?
I've always wanted to be a voice actor. Well I think at first I wanted to be a singer. Then in middle school I auditioned for a musical and I only really cared because I wanted to sing in it. I had to act as well as part of the audition and that was the first time I ever really acted, and I was like 'Oh hey, this is fun, I like doing this.'
I find it really difficult when you make a movie where it is set in Russia and everyone speaks in English. It drives me crazy.
I get a lot of letters from French lady admirers - and gentlemen. 'Midsomer' is a huge hit in France, and it's all down to the guy dubbing me into French - a middle-aged balding fellow.
I don't like the term 'voice-over.'
