Interview: Sharad Kelkar, who became the voice of ‘Bahubali’ Prabhas, said- I give voice only when it suits the actor

I had refused to become the voice of my grandmother

Sharad says, I get a lot of dubbing offers, but I prefer to give voice to only those actors or characters for whom my voice suits. For example, I have made a great pair with Prabhas. People like my voice on him/her. But my voice is a little heavy, so in many films I feel that maybe my voice will not suit that actor, so there is no point in ruining it, so I refuse. For example, Nani, who is my favorite actor. he/she does a very good job. When his/her film Dasara came to me for dubbing, I refused, because I felt that my voice would not suit him/her. Then, the makers said that watch the film once. Actually, in the film, he/she is a drunkard, so there is a heaviness in his/her voice, so my voice will sound good there.

I do dubbing just like I do acting

On his/her experience of dubbing in Baahubali: Crown of Blood, Sharad says, Baahubali is an important film etched in people’s minds. Prabhas has done such a good job in it, so his/her image and the connection people have with the film had to be kept in mind. The challenge here was that since it is animation, a lot of responsibility rests on your voice. You have to give voice based on your imagination, but it is equally fun. What seems more challenging, acting or dubbing? On this, Sharad says, I like both. If you see me dubbing in the studio, you will feel that I am acting. I act there too by jumping around, sword fighting. I don’t dub only with voice, so both are equal for me. The thing is that when you shoot a film, there are a lot of supporting things. Location, costumes, co-actors, there is nothing in dubbing, so it is a bit difficult work, but I enjoy both a lot.

Who wouldn’t want to become the voice of Lord Ram?

Sharad had also given voice in Prabhas’s film Adipurush, but that film did not connect with the people. How did Sharad, who is choosy about dubbing, agree to give voice to a gentle and calm character like Ram ji? On this Sharad says, it is not that my voice is heavy so I cannot talk calmly. I talk to my wife calmly. If you see many of my own characters, they are gentle. The important thing is whether that voice looks right on the actor or not and whether it suits Prabhas. Apart from this, who would not want to become the voice of Ram ji.

People’s appreciation is more important than money

Apart from voice acting, Sharad received a lot of praise for his/her performance in his/her last film Shrikant. The special thing is that he/she did this film for a token amount of Rs 101. When asked the reason for this, he/she says, the director of the film Tushar Hiranandani is a very old friend. We know each other for 10-12 years. When he/she said that I want you in this film and the story of the friends in it was very good. The character may come after the interval but this half an hour role was written very well and I was confident that whatever Tushar does will be good and people are liking my role very much, I got a lot of praise, so it is not necessary that you always get financial benefits in return for your work. The praise you get is bigger than these things. But why is Sharad seen in roles with less screen space even after doing good work? On this question, he/she says, what can I say? I do my work well. Now this is the choice of the film makers. They must have some calculation, I don’t know. I know that I did my work well, some things happen by luck, but I know that I will definitely get big roles one day.