Hollywood live action movies and animations have a great fan following in our country. Whilst they are released in multiple languages, the Hindi dubbing of the same have opened up newer avenues for the Bollywood stars.
Now apart from featuring in movies, a growing number of celebrities are going behind the camera to lend their voices. Shahrukh Khan was the harbinger when he voiced for Mr.Incredible in the 2004 epic The Incredibles(Hum hai Lajawaab). Thirteen years on, the dubbing landscape has now become a stomping ground for our movie stars.
Here are a few recent movies (both live action and animated) which featured voices of some renowned artists from Bollywood.
Tiger Shroff – Spiderman: Homecoming
Talking of the recent ones, let’s begin with the homecoming of a webslinger who had been away for far too long.
The third reboot of the franchise was received to a positive response and dubbing the lead Peter Parker in Hindi was Bollywood’s chocolate boy Tiger Shroff. Suffice to say his casting was a masterstroke.The youthful exuberance by Tom Holland in the movie was aptly matched by Shroff’s voice. A youth icon today, Tiger embodies the very essence of representing a hero having himself portrayed one just a year ago.The Flying Jatt star turned a voice artist for the very first time in his short career, and his dubbing debut was off to a flyer.
Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra – The Jungle Book
Mowgli’s adventures were brought to the celluloid in 2016 by Jon Favreau after a gap of almost two decades and sent ripples across the box office history books with its monumental success.In India too, the movie was loved by all and sundry and the Hindi version of it featured voices of Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra for Baloo and Kaa.
Jungle Book couldn’t have found a more fitting Indian version of Kaa than the Baywatch actress, who possesses a similar seductive tone. Irrfan as the comical bear Baloo looks like a mismatch on the face of it, but the 50-year old pulled it off great.
Ali Asgar – Despicable Me 3
The funniest ‘dadi’ on the planet, Ali Asgar opened a new chapter in his illustrious career when he lent his voice for ‘Gru’ and ‘Dru’ in the third instalment of Despicable Me franchise.
The well-known comedian voiced for both the lead characters of the movie which is a testament to his immense talent. Having entertained the masses all these years through his stand-up comedy and also in his granny avatar on Kapil Sharma’s shows, the fans were treated with a new side of him.The movie was a commercial success in India too, and thanks in no small part to our very own “Pushpa nani”.
Arshad Warsi – Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge
Captain Jack Sparrow is more than just a fictional pirate character. He’s an icon. And Johnny Depp’s impeccable portrayal of the crackbrained-yet-humorous sea rover is the reason.
Who wouldn’t love to play Jack Sparrow? Or even voice his character? So Arshad Warsi doing a voice over for him in the Hindi dub of Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s latest production, Salazar’s Revenge, one can only drool.
The ‘Circuit’ has given us some really cherishable characters in the past which made our stomach churn with laughter. So him donning the Jack Sparrow’s hat, albeit vocally, seems like near perfect.His comic genes made total justice to Depp’s most famous character.
Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Chunky Pandey, Vinay Pathak – Hanuman: Da’ Dumdaar
Enough with Hollywood and their glorification. It’s time to admire some of our own work. In a latest in the string of domestic animated movies, Hanuman: Da’ Damdaar released last month and set the kids rolling in the aisles.
Based on the storied history of Ramayana, the movie emphasizes on the life of one of Lord Ram’s closest devotees. Though the movie is sprinkled with plenty of humor and comes with its own modifications, it endeared to the young audience. The star voice cast only added to the glamour.
Voicing Hanuman was none other than Salman Khan, who brought the character to life with his authoritative vocals. The likes of Raveena Tandon, Chunky Pandey and Vinay Pathak added to the allure of the movie in the voices of Anjani, Tourist Guide and Popat Sharma respectively.Bring in the vocals of Saurabh Shukla, Javed Akhtar, Kunal Khemu and Makarand Deshpande, it makes for a dumdaar cast.
