A love for Malayalam: How Shanker Ramakrishnan worked on the dubbed version of ‘K.G.F Chapter 2’

‘Respecting a film’s text’ comes up very often in the conversation with actor-director Shanker Ramakrishnan, whose most recent work is the Malayalam dubbed version of K.G.F Chapter 2. He has been working on the project for more than a year, coordinating and curating voices to go with the characters in the second edition of the blockbuster franchise.

Dubbed films are, usually, cringe-inducing as, often, neither the language nor the voices used match; another factor that goes against it is the forced attempt to ‘locate’ the film in the region of the version. Flawed dubbing compromises the syntax and semantics of a film.  K.G.F Chapter 2, however, has scored in these aspects. Basavappa does not become Vijayanchettan nor do places like Muvattupuzha and Pala suddenly crop up in a film that is not located in Kerala. 

This is the result of an understanding between the film’s Kerala distributor, actor-director Prithiviraj and Shanker from the get-go: that the dubbing would respect the text, and do justice to the emotions portrayed and, as Shanker says, “not lose the essence of the original.”

Regional languages do not get the textual appreciation that Hindi cinema gets, and Shanker sees his work (dubbing) as bridging the gap. He worked with a copy of the English translation of the script provided by the K.G.F team and wrote the dialogues for the Malayalam version.

Hybrid Malayalam

“The Malayalam used in the film is neither colloquial nor high-brow. It is a hybrid language, a mix of Malayalam, English and Hindi while keeping as close to the text as possible,” he says, over the phone. The difference in tempo of the languages (Kannada and Malayalam) was one of the challenges. He explains, “For example, the female lead is called Chinna, which means gold in Kannada. We use Ponne (also gold in Malayalam, as well as a term of endearment).”  

Right, Shanker Ramakrishnan with dubbing engineer (sitting) Anand Raj and voice actor Tony who dubbed for Rao Ramesh

The first step in working towards that goal, aside from the Malayalam translation, was voice casting before finalising the voices. “The sequences in the film are power-packed. The dubbing had to deliver the punch of the performances,” he says. This was done by getting on board actors such as Lena, Sudhir Karamana and Raghavan, among others, for the job. Arun PM was retained as the voice of Rocky (Yash), with all the work being done at a studio in Bengaluru. 

All work was done at a studio in Bengaluru, where all the voice actors from Kerala had to be taken. The pandemic and restrictions on travel out of Kerala and the multiple RT/PCR tests did not make the task any easier. Added to it was the effect of air-conditioning on the voice.

Prakash Raj, however, dubbed for himself despite reservations about if he would be able to do justice to the role (in Malayalam). The actor has dubbed the Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi versions, but he was not sure about Malayalam. But after three days of convincing from Shanker’s side, on the sets of Kamal KM’s Pada, he agreed. “He came to the studio at 7 pm one day and was done by 2.45 am the next morning. He finished it at one go…there is a certain style and emotion he brings in emotion to the dialogue delivery!”      

Shanker does not know why Prithviraj chose him for the task. They have worked together in the ensemble film Kerala Cafe, Prithviraj acted in the Island Express segment that Shanker scripted and acted in, and also Urumi, another of Shanker’s scripts. 

Shanker Ramakrishnan
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Not a newbie

Shanker is not new to this, for instance, while assisting director Ranjith on Kaiyoppu (2007), he translated the script for Khushboo. Later, in Santosh Sivan’s Urumi, he worked on dubbing with actors such as Tabu, Vidya Balan, Prabhu Deva, and Genelia D’Souza.  

The challenge, always, with a dubbed version is getting people to watch it. “I visit cinema theatres where my films are being screened incognito to gauge response. On one such visit recently to watch K.G.F: Chapter 2, a theatre manager [in Thiruvananthapuram], who has been in the business for 50-odd years, told me that he has never seen such a response to a dubbed film” says Shanker, attributing the film’s success to the team’s ‘creative madness’.

For the love of the language

While some would consider working on/for a ‘dubbed’ film infra dig, he refuses to see it that way.

Having grown up on a diet of translations of Russian literature and Amar Chitra Katha comics, and later watching dubbed and subtitled films, he understands the importance of access to the text or rather, a well-translated one. “Good translations shaped our aesthetics…imagine if those weren’t there?” he asks.

Shanker sees the work as an extension of his love for ‘good Malayalam’ and passion for how it is spoken/presented. “I would put in this work for any film, commercial or indie, irrespective of budget.”