I never liked dubbed English films: Sanjay Mishra

PTI, Dec 23, 2024, 12:05 PM IST

Mumbai: Actor Sanjay Mishra, who voice stars as Pumbaa the warthog in the Hindi version of the Hollywood animated film “Mufasa: The Lion King”, says the standard of dubbing in India has improved over the years with attention being paid to every word today.

The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, serves as both a prequel and sequel to “The Lion King”, the 2019 remake of the 1994 animated movie. It explores the journey of Mufasa from an orphaned cub to becoming the king of the jungle.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has voiced the title role of Mufasa in the Hindi dubbed version along with his elder son Aryan Khan lending his voice to Simba and his youngest son AbRam Khan as Mufasa, the cub.

Mishra said he was motivated to dub for Pumbaa after he heard actor Shreyas Talpade record for the character of Timon, the meerkat. Timon and Pumbaa are the iconic duo who feature in “The Lion King” universe as friends and mentors of Simba, Mufasa’s son.

“I never liked dubbed English films because they (Hindi dubbed dialogues) sounded incomplete. Today, attention is paid to every word and not just on the first and last word.

“I was initially a bit worried. But when I heard the way Shreyas did it, I felt he did it the way it was required. So, I did it exactly on the basis of what was written in the script,” Mishra told PTI.

The actor said he simply followed the pace and rhythm set by Talpade to dub for his character.

“I ensure I dub after Shreyas because he is born and brought up in Mumbai so I believe he rather understands the character well. So, I just follow him, it helps me,” he added, in a reference to using the local Mumbai dialect for voice acting in “Mufasa: The Lion King”.

Mishra, known for films such as “Ankhon Dekhi”, “Dhamaal”, “Vadh”, and “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3”, said directors today are actively reaching out to him for various projects.

“That’s the change that has happened. Like, ‘Vadh’ part two is being made, it was great working with the directors (Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal). Then I’m working on the next part of ‘Dhamaal’. I’m happy that directors today want to work with me,” the 61-year-old actor said.

For him, Mishra explained, the primary motivation to take on a film lies in the opportunity to collaborate with the right director.

“I always had a wish of working with some directors. I had the desire to work with Mani Ratnam and I worked with him (in ‘Dil Se’, ‘Saathiya’, and ‘Guru’), to work with Ketan Mehta and I did that (in ‘Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India’). I wanted to work with Satyajit Ray but unfortunately, I couldn’t.

“So, when a film like ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 or 3’ is offered to me, I can only see the experience of working with Anees Bazmee. For actors, there’s a lot to learn from directors like Anees or Rajkumar Santoshi,” he added.