Hindi and Odia films have had an enduring appeal in Odisha but now dubbed South Indian films too are finding a growing audience. So much so, that dubbed films are getting prime time slot on Odia channels and pirated DVDs too are in high demand. Well, the looks and style of the hero and heroine in these films may differ from that of Odia stars, but film lovers do not mind so long as they get to watch a film in their own language.
Regional films dubbed in Odia certainly have created a new space in the entertainment landscape. That, however, is one side of the story. The import of regional films to the state has, at the same time, made the dubbing artist busy like never before, and recording studios too are enjoying a share of the pie with round the clock bookings.
The remuneration may not always be great, but the steady flow of work is a welcome prospect for the voiceover artistes and recording studios in the state. Sunday POST examines how regional films have given a boost to the local dubbing industry.
Dubbing isn’t an easy task. Since Odia differs vastly from South Indian languages, lip-syncing becomes difficult. Moreover, a dubbing artiste has to understand the emotions and then emote to perfection. Understandably, challenges are aplenty, but the voiceover artistes try their best to make the dubbed version look as original as possible.
“During the early 90s, dubbing was predominantly restricted to kids’ animation content. The first dubbed theatrical hit was Jurassic Park in Hindi, which opened up the way for cult South Indian films like Roja and Odisha was fast to catch up,” says Shaktiswar Mohapatra, a sound engineer in Cuttack who has worked on a number of dubbed films in Odisha.
Till a few years ago, it was primarily Bengali films that were dubbed in Odia. The dubbing process was easy given the similarity in the languages. However, the craze for big-budget South Indian films and the popularity of the actors opened a new avenue for the dubbing industry in Odisha.
“Today, dubbing is a flourishing business in the state with regional content at the heart of it. This wasn’t the scene till a few years ago. In Odisha, dubbing mostly happens for Bengali, Tamil and Telugu films. Now Hindi serials too have been added to the list. These shows are aired on regional television channels,” adds Shaktiswar.
“The demand for Telugu and Tamil content has witnessed a steady rise in Odisha as evident from dubbed films. Serials and small-format shows in Hindi and Bengali are also being dubbed for regional television channels in the state,” says Anup Panda, who owns a recording studio in Bhubaneswar.
The end result might look easy, but dubbing is an intricate process. To record their respective parts, artists read from a script, while the video is played in front of them. Before each dialogue, they hear two beeps, and at the fourth beep they start their line. “That is the standard process,” says Sushant Kumar Satapathy, a popular dubbing artist in the state. “The remuneration depends upon the importance of the character in the film or television serial. Dubbing and executing one episode of a serial takes four days, while for films that are streamed on digital platforms, it takes seven to 10 days. A film that is aired on television is dubbed in approximately 15 days, while one for the theatre can takes up to 30 days. But one thing is for sure: your voice will give you recognition.”
Translators play a major role in dubbed films. Their role starts much before that of voiceover artists. Barsharanee Nayak from Bhubaneswar, who has a lot of experience in translating content for films, says, “We start by creating a raw, word-for-word translation. At times, the translation is tweaked to help in lip syncing with the regional actors when the voiceover artistes start dubbing.”
Dubbing has also been generating revenues for recording studios, though dubbing a regional film also takes a lot of time and meticulous planning. Anup says, “The budget for dubbing a film in Odia is between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh. The budget varies depending on the number of characters and songs in a film. For a perfect dubbed version of any content, translation and interpretation is very important. We have translators who convey all content into the respective language while preserving the original flavour.”
The next step is casting voiceover artists, which is done keeping in mind the voice of the original actors of the film.
“The dubbing artiste’s voice has to match the age, texture, and comic timing of the original actor. For a celebrity actor like Prabhas or Rajinikanth, we choose professional and experienced voiceover artistes who will do justice to the job,” says Ajay Sahoo, a popular sound and dubbing arranger in the state.
He adds, “Before starting a project, we draw up a list of dubbing artists for the different characters of the film. Then we record dummy voice of each character from the film and distribute the characters accordingly. At times, one artiste may do the voiceover for two characters in the film. But we take that risk only if the artiste has the ability to do voice modulation, which requires both expertise and experience.”
Needless to say, the entire dubbing process is quite interesting. Once the voiceover is done, the technocrats at the recording studios take over. They strip the original voices from the soundtrack, also called the M&E (music and effects) track.
“Once the voices are recorded, sound editors take the M&E and paste the recorded dialogue in Odia matching the right tracks. The sound mixers then blend the dialogue with the music and sound effects so that everything sounds fluid,” says Ajay.
Shaktiswar says that mixing is the most important and difficult process. “We have to sync the lip movements with the dialogues. We give our best shot to make it look as original as possible. With the evolution of technology, we are using ‘auto tune’ for some content but the artiste plays the most important role when it comes to dubbing, as voice modulation is not possible through ‘auto tune’.”
The growing demand for dubbed films has also seen mushrooming of small companies offering voiceover service at cheaper rates. However, that also means compromising on the quality.
“The mushrooming of small companies has greatly benefited broadcasters and production houses. They now have access to more technical resources at pocket-friendly prices. It now costs only Rs 15,000 to dub a television episode compared to Rs 50,000 in the past. Today, a three-hour movie costs Rs 1 lakh when dubbed for a television channel and around Rs 2 lakh for theatres,” says Dilip Kumar Mishra, producer and Chairman of Utkal Cine Chamber of Commerce.
However, the picture isn’t all rosy. Rakhi Das, a popular Odia voiceover artiste who regularly dubs for South Indian films, says, “This was a flourishing business but is fast losing its charm. Due to low investment in the trade, dubbed films are failing to attract audiences in the state. Moreover, the remuneration is also low if you are not dubbing for the lead actors or the antagonist. There is so much work and good remuneration can help voiceover artistes. But low payment is forcing many to quit the profession. Also, there is no award for these artistes. I only dub for television serials as the remuneration for films is very low. There should be an association for dubbing artistes in the state to help them voice their opinions.”
A producer of dubbed Odia films, who doesn’t want to reveal his name, says that around 60 per cent of the business comes from the television industry, 30 per cent from movies and rest from streaming services such as YouTube. “Dubbing companies acquire customers organically. The major chunk of the business comes from the television industry. But going forward, digital platforms are likely to generate maximum revenue, amounting to almost 60 per cent of the total,” he says.
“The business is on a steady growth track due to the increased volume of content being created with a local focus. Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and auto-translation might play a major role in dubbing and subtitling films in the future. However, precise and accurate translation and interpretation will always require a human touch. And that’s where local companies need to be at the top of their game. Amazon Prime and Netflix are shelling out millions of dollars on content localisation. With a surge in smartphone sales in the state, it won’t be long before these digital platforms start spending big on generating Odia content,” he says.
SOYONG, OP
