The Voice Over or Dubbing Artist of Bollywood

Dubbing is a post-production process used in film making in which additional or supplementary recordings are "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack.
When a film is shot, there is a recordist on the set who records all the dialogues of the characters. This is generally done either with a wire-less microphone hidden in the costume of the character, or a professional guy holds a microphone attached at the end of a boom-pole. The boom pole method is  generally accompanied with close-up shots.
After the completion of shooting Dubbing of the scenes is done.A dubbing session is actually another acting session, where the actor has to 'act-out' his voice looking at the original video footage.
There are so many actors in Bollywood who have faced a problem with language, diction or just simply their tone while doing certain films. The directors in these cases have no second option but to turn to a dubbing artist!
There are also circumstances that the original actor is not available at the time of dubbing then the Voice Over Artist is called to give their voice for the scene.Earlier Chand Usmani used to give her voice for Mina Kumari.

Meena Gokulas  she has been involved in the dubbing industry for about 28 years—she has been dubbing for foreign productions as early as 1986.

She has also given her voice for Bollywood movie ''Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon for the parrot character Raja. She quit the profession last year. The work was challenging but little recognition and remuneration came her way. 

Naaz Popularly known as Baby Naaz was the voice of Sri Devi.She was a leading Voice Over artist of India.

Chetan Shashital 

He is considered to be one of the most prominent voice artists of India,he is mostly recognized for working in the dubbing industry and considered to be one of the more well-known voice artists in India.He is an  official dubbing artist for Bollywood actor, Amitabh Bachchan, as well as for such other Bollywood actors as Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Dharmendra.

Viraj Adhav 

he has lent his voice to John Abraham ,has dubbed for John Abraham in his first four films. and Dino Morea, among many others, Viraj has also been the Hindi voice of the Character Mickey in Mickey Mouse for the past 13 years. Viraj is also the voice of M.S.Dhoni in all of his commercials.

Malavika Shivpuri 

She has dubbed for Bipasha Basu in Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and Meera in Nazar besides many other actresses in different films. Her mother Kanika Shivpuri is a character artiste in films and television.
Javed Jaffery 

He dubbed Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Don Karnage in Hindi for Disney; screen played the Hindi description of Disney’s Jungle Book 2 and Pixar’s The Incredibles along with expression for the rival. His personality as Charlie Anna in the first full-fledged commercial dynamic film Roadside Romeo (a mutual attempt of Yash Raj Films and Disney) was tremendously cherished. His comments on the famous Japanese TV show Takeshi's Castle and Ninja Warrior on Pogo television and Hungama correspondingly has also acquired an enormous fan following with teens and grown-ups.
Rajesh Khattar 

he is the B-town veteran artist, story/playwright and accent-dubbing performer who is assured in the English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu languages. As a Hindi voice-dubbing entertainer, he has called greater than many Hollywood celebrities: Tom Hanks, Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr., Lambert Wilson, Michael Fassbender and several more.
Mona Ghosh Shetty 

She is the daughter of former voice-dubbing artist Leela Roy Ghosh, who was a veteran in the field. Just like Leela, she can also speak Hindi, Bengali, English, Marathi and Urdu. While she dubs her foreign roles in Hindi most of the time, she also performs her voice-dubbing roles in English and Bengali. For more than 15 years, she has been dubbing in Hindi for many leading female roles such Jacqueline Fernandez, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and other celebrities.She recently dubbed for Nargis Fakhri in the 2011 film "Rockstar" at Yash Raj Studios.

In Nirnayak (1997) she dubbed for Indrani Banerjee.It was her first film dubbing for a Hindi film. In the past, she used to dub for Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Amisha Patel, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, and Koena Mitra.

Sharad Kelkar A noted TV actor did the voice over for Prabhas.in hindi version of Bahubali

Rabindra Nath Tagore Remains the Most Inspiring Figure in Bollywood Songs

Noted litterateur Rabindranath Tagore’s own composed song popularly known as Rabindra Sangeet has been an inspiration for many popular Hindi film songs.Tagore’s composition was first introduced to Hindi cinema in 1941 by Pankaj Kumar Mullick for the film titled Doctor.K L Saigal was the first non-Bengali singer to sing Rabindra Sangeet. Mullick later used the tune of Kharo vayu vayu meghe in the film Zalzala popular song Pawan Chale Zor. The far reaching influences of the Rabindra Sangeet is apparent on several music directors and not all of them were Bengali.

 Song from Doctor 1941

Sachin Dev Burman, whose compositions tend to draw upon inspiration from Bengali folk traditions (e.g. bhatiaalii, saari, etc.), have composed several tunes derived from Rabindra Sangeet. Mera sundar sapna beet gaya (Do Bhai, 1947) draws a faint inspiration from O je maane na maana. In fact S D Burman gave us many hit songs from his Bengali Tunes such as Ghum bhulechhi made way for the leisurely Hum bekhdudi mein tumko; Mono dilo na bondhu was turned into Jaane kya tuney kahi(Pyaasa);  Dur Kon Parabase became Wahan kaun hai tera musafir jayega kahan (Guide) to name a few.

meraa sundar sapnaa biit gayaa (Do Bhai, 1949): From one of S.D. Burman’s first hit scores in the Bollywood industry, this song is considered to be Geeta Dutt’s breakthrough as a playback singer in Hindi films. The mukhDaa of this song is inspired by a Bilaaval-based Tagore composition called “radono bharaa e basonto.” 

Song from Do Bhai, 1947

Nain diivaane (Afsar, 1950): this is another great song based on an extremely popular Tagore composition called “sediin duujane duulechhiinuu bone.” S.D. Burman literally did a copy-paste job here, as the melody of the entire Hindi song is identical to the Bengali original. 

Song from Afsar, 1950

 Jaayen to jaaye.n kahaan (Taxi Driver, 1954): S.D. Burman modified the raga of his composition to more closely resemble Jaunpuri, the first line of the mukhDaa is instantly recognizable as the main phrase from Tagore’s Bhairavi-based classic  “ he khoniiker otiithhii.”

Song from Taxi Driver, 1954

Jalte hai.n jiske liye: (Sujata, 1959):  the mukhDaa is taken directly from a Tagore composition named “ekodaa tumii priye.”

Song from Sujata, 1959

tere mere milan kii yeh rainaa (Abhimaan, 1973): By far, this is the most famous example where  S.D. Burman has been inspired by Rabindra-sangeet. 

Song from Abhimaan, 1973

The influences of the Rabindra Sangeet too ran deep in RD Burman’s music. The proverbial Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hain jo makaam, woh phir nahin aate (Aap Ki Kasam, 1974) draws an inspiration from Tagore’s Jaagorone jai bibhaabori. The song Chhoti Si Ek Kali Khili Thi (Jurmana) is highly inspired from Tagore’s Basante Phul Ganthlo. here I’d like to draw your attention to a collection of S.D. Burman compositions that are derived from Rabindra-sangeet:

Song from Aap Ki Kasam, 1974

R D Burman also used Tagore’s Gram chara oi ranga matir path’s tune instrumentally in the cross line of the song Jab bhi koi kangana bole (Shaukeen). RD Burman’s last movie 1942 A Love Story (1994) had heavy Bengali influences in Kuch na kaho and Yeh safar bahut hai kathin magar. And the Kavita Krishnamurthy solo Pyar hua chupke se is also influenced by Rabindra Sangeet.

Song from Shaukeen 1982

Rajesh Roshan was very much influenced by Rabindra Sangeet many of his songs were inspired by Rabindra Sangeet.One of his great songs Chhokar Mere Mann Ko from Yaarana was inspired by this song Tomar holo shuru, amar holo shara.

Song from Yaarana 1981

In the present Century of Indi Pop or Bhangra Music we can sometime hear  beautiful melody from Bengal."Piyu bole" from Pareenita 2005 is one such composition from Shantanu Moitra.And thus Bengal’s music continues to leave its lyrical and melodious stamp in Hindi film music…

Song from Pareenita 2005

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The Sweet Melody With Flute is Missing today in Bollywood Songs

The beautiful sounds of flute gave us many evergreen and sweet melodies.The music composers of Golden Era used their creativity, inspiration and their expertise in arrangements to make attractive use of flute.Stalwarts like Naushad, S D Burman and Roshan seemed to have a preference for flute and used it extensively in some of their songs.S D Burman used flute in many of his songs to provide a breezy and light touch to complement the vocals composed in his unique style. But, it is his sad number Jaayen to Jaayen kahaan (Taxi Driver) that has extensive use of flute. Talat’s voice and the flute combine to create unforgettable pathos.
Remember the songs Gaye jaa geet milan ke (Mela) and Tu mera chaand main teri chaandni (Dillagi) What a beautiful and extensive use of the flute by Naushad
When we talk of a flute one name comes in our mind is that of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia He was involved in many of  the great melodies created in 60s. He played flute in many songs of the great Music directors of that time.
In this Blog I have selected 15 such songs having sweet melodies with flute.

Song from Sahibaan 1993

Song from  Abhimaan (1973)

Song from 'Prem Parbat' (1973)

Song from Amar Prem (1972)

Song from Heer Ranjha 1970

Song from Geet (1970)

Song from Hamraz 1967

Song from Saheli 1965

Song from Dosti 1964

Song from Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song from Soorat aur Seerat 1962

Song from Maya  1961

Song from Taxi Driver 1954

Song from Awara 1951

Song from Mela 1948

Manna Dey- Hindi Cinema’s Favourite Classical Voice

Manna De,born on 1st May 1929 was highly inspired and influenced by his Uncle K C Dey the legendary Singer of the late 30s and 40s.He  began taking music lessons from Krishna Chandra Dey and Ustad Dabir Khan. During this period, he stood first for three consecutive years in three different categories of inter-collegiate singing competitions.
At the age of 22 years he started  working as an assistant music director first under Krishna Chandra Dey, and then under Sachin Dev Burman. Later, he assisted other music composers and then started to work independently. Dey started his career in playback singing with the movie Tamanna, in 1942. The musical score was by Krishna Chandra Dey and Manna De sang a duet named "Jago Aayee Usha Ponchi Boley Jago" with Suraiya which was an instant hit.
It was only in 1943 that he got his first solo break with Ram Rajya. Incidentally, the producer of the film Vijay Bhatt and its composer Shankar Rao Vyas had approached K C Dey with an offer for playback in the film. When K C Dey refused the offer on the grounds that he would not lend his voice to other actors, they spotted Manna Dey sitting in the corner of the room and offered him the opportunity.
After that Manna Dey gave many hit songs.His songs like "O Prem Diwani Sambhal Ke Chalna" from 1944 film Kadambari composed by Anil Biswas, "Dil Churaney Ki Liye from Dur Chaley" (1946) composed by Jafar Khurshid, his duets with Amira Bahee like "E Diniya Jara Suney" from Kamala (1946) and duet song "Aaj Bor Aayee" with Meena Kapoor from 1947 film Chaltey Chaltey became chartbusters in respective years. Between 1945-47 many Manna Dey-Rajkumari duets like "Hay Gagan Me Badal Tharey" in 1945 for the film Vikaramaditya, "Aowji Morey" from Insaaf (1946), all 4 duets from the 
film Geet Govind composed by Pandit Indra - "Kit Ho Nando Kumar", "Chorr Sakhi Aaj Laj", "Apney Hi Rang", "Lalit Labang Lata" from Geet Govind became popular.

Manna Dey was a very versatile singer and there was no playback singer who could imitate Manna Dey's versatility. The great Mohammed Rafi once commented that though people listen to his songs, he himself hears only Manna Dey's songs.He established his versatility between 1948 to 1954 by singing not only the classical based film songs but also singing such film songs which were fusion of Indian classical music and pop music and by giving classical music concerts. His experimentation with western music too produced many unforgettable melodies resulting in an increase in singing offers in films from 1955. He began singing ghazalsin Hindi films from 1953. He became a music composer in Hindi films when he composed music along with Khemchand Prakash for both Shri Ganesh Janma (1951) and Vishwamitra (1952).

 He got associated with S D Burman with the  film named "Mashaal" in which he sang a solo track named "Upar Gagan Vishal", which was another hit. S.D. Burman composed the music for this track.Later he gave many immortal songs with him.One of them was Poochho na kaise maine rain bitaayi from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen
It was an irony that he was typed for classical songs,background songs and sons for comedians specially Mehmood. His deep classical training could have been the reason for this anomaly

His first duet with the then upcoming singer Lata Mangeshkar was "Lapat Ke Pot Pahaney Bikral" composed by Vasant Desai for Narsingh Avtar (1949), With Lata Mangeshkar, Manna recorded around 103 Hindi duets of which songs like "Tere Bina Aag Yeh Chandni" from Awara, "Yeh raat bhigi bhigi" and "Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein" from Chori Chori, "Pyar hua iqrar hua" from Shree 420, "Woh Chand Muskaye" from Akhri Dao (1958), "Ritu aye", "Dil Ki Girah Khol Do" from Raat Aur Din (1966), "Aya Abdulla Aya" from Juaari (1968), "Soch Ke Ye Gagan Jhume" from the flop film Jyoti (1969) and "main buddho lambo lambo" of Buddha Mil Gaya (1971) are still extremely popular. and with Kishore Kumar it was "Subaho Ki Paheli Kiran" from 1951 film Anadolan composed by Pannalal Ghosh. They sang together 6 songs till 1968 but the demand increased after 1972.Their popular songs were "Mere Pyale Mein" from Aamir Garib (1974), "Is Ishq Mein Har" from Mr. Romeo (1974), "Yeh Dosti" from Sholay (1975), "Duniya Me Jeeney" from Naukri, "Kamal Hain" from Karz, "Phool Chaahiye Na" from Pyas (1982) and their last duet was in 1986 film Maqqar - "Tu Hi Mera Sapna". Salil Chowdhry compositions rendered by Dey from films like Ananad and Anadatta became popular as well. Also the trio of Rafi-Kishore-Manna Dey sang together hits like "Tujhme Ishwar, Allah Tujhme" from Nanha Farishta (1969) and "Band Mutthee" from Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi (1981). Kishore-Manna Dey together also sang with Asha in many films and famous among them are "Khan Chacha" from Dil Deewana(1974), "Aa Kitni Sundar Jagah" from Chandi Sona, both composed by R.D. Burman and with Lata in "Goyakechu Nanche" from Manoranjan (1974), "Logo Ke Juban Me Apna" from Nehla Pe Dehla, both composed by Pancham.  His first duet with Geeta Roy (Dutt) was "Dhonyo Dhonyo He Ayodh Puri" from the film Ram Vivah (1949) composed by Shankar Rao Vyas, first duet with Umadevi (Tun Tun) was "Hay Ye Hain" from Jangal Ka Jaanwar (1951) composed by Ghantshala. His first duet with the then struggling singer Asha Bhosle was "O Raat Gayee Fir Din Aya" from 1953 film Bootpolish.

Three Legends Manna Dey,Rafi and Kishore

 His association with Shankar-Jaikishan and producer Raj Kapoor had begun while working for Awara, but their combination became famous while working together for Boot Polish in 1954. The trio worked in many films together from 1954-1971 whose musical scores were appreciated, irrespective of their box-office fate, like Shree 420, Chori Chori, Mera Naam Joker, Parvarish, Dil Hi to hai, Awara, Sriman Satyavadi, Kal Aaj aur Kaal, Abdullah etc.. The Raj Kapoor- Manna Dey combination produced super hits. Manna Dey gave playback for Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 (Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh), Chori Chori (Yeh Raat Bheegi, Jahan Main Jati and Aja Sanam), Parvarish (Masti bhara hai sama), Dil Hi To Hai (Laga chunari mein daag), Mera Naam Joker (Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo) and "Ek Paon Chal Raha Hai" from Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971). 
R D Burman also gave many hit songs with Manna Dey specially "chunri sambhal gori udi chali jaye" from Baharon Ke Sapne. Rahul Dev Burman made Manna Dey sing the westernised songs – "Aao Twist Karen" and "Pyar Karta Ja" which became chart busters in 1965.
Manna Dey recorded popular duets with Mohd. Rafi, Dey sang 101 Hindi songs along-with Rafi which include "Ishq Ishq" (Barsaat Ki Raat) "Tu hai mera prem Devta" (Kalpana), "Mama o mama" (Parvarish), Duniyaan ke liye from Maan Gaye Ustaad (1981), "Main Hoon Tera Prem Aur Tu Ho Meri Pran" from Rahu Ketu (1979), the song "Hindustan Ki Kasam" from Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), "Hum To Tere Hai Deewane" from Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong, "Badey Miya Diwane" from Shagird, "Ye Do Diwane Dil Ke" from Johar Mehmood in Goa, "Agar Dil Dil Se" from Shola Aur Shabnam(1961).
Some of his greatest songs are non-filmi. He recorded selections from Harivanshrai Bachchan’s Madhushala and his songs such as Nathni se toota moti re and Yeh awaara se din has loyal fans.He sang in many languages like in Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili, Punjabi, Assamese, Odia, Konkani, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Nepali.
Since 1992, Dey withdrew himself from Hindi film music. But he continued to sing in Bengali movies, bhajans and gazals in different languages and appeared in live performances during 1992 to 2012 . His last live performance was in 2012 in Mumbai. His last recorded song in Hindi films was for the film Umar in 2006 composed by Shamir Tandon, Duniyawaalo Kee Nahee Kuchh Bhee Khabar, which he sang along with Kavita Krishnamoorthy and Sonu Nigam. He was presented the Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award in 2011.
 He died of a cardiac arrest at 3:45 pm on 24 October at Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bengaluru, aged 94.
Some of the Most Popular Sons of Manna Dey

Song from Mashaal 1950

Song from Do Bigha Zamin (1953)

Song from Shree 420 (1954)

Song from Chori Chori, (1956)

Song from Basant Bahar (1956),

Song from Parwarish, (1958)

Song from Navrang 1959

Song from Kabuliwala 1961

Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Song from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen 1963

Song from Upkar 1967

Song from Padosan (1968)

Song from Mere Huzoor (1968)

Song from Mera Naam Joker (1970)

Song from Zanjeer (1973)

Song from Awishkar 1973

Song from Sholay 1975

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The Magic of AWARA HOON and Raj Kapoor

There is a saying that Music has no Language and no Boundaries.This classic song from Awara has proven it.This was the song that mesmerized Russian decades ago.Later it went popular in Turkey now in China.This generation of youth may have not heard this song or liking for old songs but `Awaara Hoon` ring tone is very popular among today`s Russian youth.This  Bollywood song is so loved internationally that it has a localised version in Greece, Turkey, Middle East, Russia and China. The song is so popular that people abroad sing the original version as well. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
One of the reasons for the popularity of the song, and Indian films in general, is the quality of the literature present in them. Take 'Awara hoon' for instance. The song was written by Shailendra(coincidentally called 'Pushkin', after the revolutionary Russian poet, for his socialist leanings) was filled with a melancholy that is simultaneously uplifting. The story goes that on hearing the passionate, and dark, narration of the story by KA Abbas, Shailendra explained his understanding of the story in his simple lines.
Recently Prime Minister visited China,on his arrival the tune of a bollywood song was played.Indian films have become very popular in China.Aamir Khan is now the most popular Indian actor in China.
Here are some versions of Awara Hoon
Watch This Turkish Song from which Awara Hoon was inspired.This film was released in 1946 five years before Awara (1951)

Song from Turkish Film released in 1946

Ujbekistan version

Istanbul Girls singing

President of Uzbekistan singing

Chineese singing

Raj Kapoor singing for his Gran children

Two Raj Kapoor Fans in Canada

Dancing on the song in Los Angelis

                                         Awara Hoon in background - Mere Naam Joker