They vocally shadow the characters on screen, render emotions to the dialogues that the actors deliver, be it melancholic or cheerful. But the irony is that they are neither in the limelight nor do people recognise their face like that of the stars. And a dubbing artist, whose voice is often the star of a film, does not lead that much of a glossy life, says dubbing artist Shreeja Ravi.
Having rendered her voice to numerous characters in over 1,000 films in South Indian languages, Shreeja believes that dubbing artists seldom receive any real recognition.
Though the State Government had instituted awards for dubbing artists, I believe that we are mostly neglected. We are never given the appreciation given to other technicians. For instance, we are rarely invited for the success parties of the films we worked for. It might seem like a small thing but it has been like this for decades, says Shreeja who has received the Kerala State awards thrice and Kerala Film Critics awards twice.
To begin with, Shreeja says that she never thought about a career in dubbing, though her mother Kannur Narayani was a dubbing artist. Her family moved to Madras in 1972 and one day Shreeja happened to visit the dubbing studio along with her mother. Renowned director the late G Aravindan was present there for the dubbing of his movie Thambu. He was looking for someone to dub for the childs character and Shreeja bagged the part. Later she
10:52 AM, Jul 26, 2012
