Secondly, there comes a phase in every cinema lover’s life when one becomes an absolute purist- one has to watch the movie only in the original language. The idea of ‘originality’ had developed a rather strict connotation in my mind by then. I had started despising my once-favourite songs whenever I got to know that their tunes had been copied, and remade movies were subject to abhorrence. 

Thus I went to the theater for Deadpool 2, cursing my geography as the shows were only available in Hindi after all these years and all this popularity of the franchise. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see how good and contextual the dub was for the Indian audience. All the jokes were aptly dubbed, the references like Achhe din and Gabbar Singh were well suited for the Indian crowd, and every joke landed- not a single dull moment. Though one missed Sanket Mhatre’s amazing voicework as Deadpool from the first movie, the presence of Ranveer Singh’s voice as Deadpool added a new personality to the Merc with a Mouth.

I remember Bong Joon Ho’s speech from his Oscar-winning moment when he said, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” However, the subtitles are almost exclusively in English for the Indian audience. To reach a wider audience in a country like India where English is not the first language for most, I genuinely think the dubbing of movies into vernacular languages does the work of subtitles what Bong Joon Ho was referring to. 

I want to establish it once and for all, dubbing is an art in itself. The kind of effort and money studios put into bringing the stars are commendable. Some of the best examples are Shah Rukh Khan as Mufasa and as Mr. Incredible in Incredibles, Varun Dhawan as Captain America in Civil War, and the whole amazing cast of The Jungle Book– from Nana Patekar to Priyanka Chopra. The faith the studios put in the dubbing artists is admirable, they put their heart and soul into creating a masterpiece of their own. 

Simply take the example of the new Deadpool and Wolverine movie. The dialogues like “Marvel ke achhe din aa gaye” and “Apunich Marvel ka Bhagwan hai” pay worthy homages to Indian pop culture. There’s a scene in the movie where there are at least 7 different synonyms for cocaine, and the Hindi dubbed one has done it perfectly, each synonym better than the previous one (Search it on YouTube yourself, I don’t know all the guidelines). Ranveer Singh himself said that he was excited to be the voice of Deadpool as he finds crass Hindi way funnier than crass English.

My childhood became awesome because of the dubbed cartoons on Cartoon Network and Pogo. I was exposed to American culture and awesome humor through Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. My first exposure to anime was through “Karne hai haasil…Pokemon” and “Ek, do, teen… ho jaaye shuru” in Beyblade. I got into the action-filled world of Power Rangers only after Jetix started airing them in Hindi. My gateway to Hollywood blockbusters was the Hindi dubbed ones on SET MAX, UTV Action.

To put things into perspective for the Indian audience, Ashish Saksena, chief operating officer of Cinemas, BookMyShow said, “Most viewers prefer dubbed content in their regional languages over subtitles owing to India being a linguistically diverse country, with a rich tapestry of regional languages.” While traveling, I have seen a lot of people from not so much privileged backgrounds enjoying foreign cinema in their vernacular dubbed language; so, it’s intriguing how dubbed media makes art more accessible and democratic.

In this context, I would like to tell a personal story. One of my cousins was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Though her parents were all supportive throughout her treatment and decisions to change cities, they couldn’t really grasp what the situation really was. Recently, we went for the newly released Inside Out 2 and had booked tickets for the Hindi dubbed show as they were not accustomed to watching movies in English.

And thanks to the character of anxiety and the nuanced portrayal of mental health in the movie, I could finally hear them saying that they now understood the scenario better. Just the movie being in a language they were so well versed in made all the difference.