Dub-Ble Talk

A spat between an actress (Bipasha Basu) and her producer (Reliance Big Pictures) has now assumed the proportions of a whodunit. Bipasha Basu wants to dub her own lines in the Rituparno Ghosh-directed Bengali film Shob Charitro Kalponik (All Characters are Fictitious). But she’s furious because she says her producers will not let her dub, and have got a dubbing artiste with a ‘terrible’ voice to dub for her. Bipasha, who thinks this is the most challenging role of her career, won’t compromise and, as she says, ‘con’ the audiences. She says, “When I first came to know that I wouldn’t be dubbing my own voice I was furious. I’ve gone through this process of having my voice dubbed by someone else. No way will I allow this to happen to this film! In fact one of the reasons why I waited so long to do a Bengali film was because I wanted to be sure I could carry off the lines.”After much furious sparring, the producers relented partially.Says Bipasha, “Now they want me to dub only for the print that would be submitted for the National awards (films with the actors’ lines dubbed by a dubbing artiste are not eligible). But I’m very clear on this issue. I will not let the film be released with someone else’s voice in it. I know what that does to a performance. And I won’t dub only for the National award print. I want every print to have my voice.”Bipasha finds the whole insistence on a dubbing artiste when she’s both willing and capable, highly absurd. “I don’t want some alien voice to speak for me. I don’t care if I get awards or not. Why should I dub only for the National award? My audiences know me well enough by now, they can’t be conned by another voice,” she says.
Getting bold: Rituparno Ghosh
Bipasha has heard the voice used to dub for her character in Shob Charitro Kalponik. She says, “The voice they plan to use is simply terrible! When I signed the film it was made clear that it’ll be shot in Kolkata but dubbed in Mumbai. Rituparno is supposed to come and supervise my dubbing in Mumbai.”Who does she blame? Bipasha replies, “It’s not Rituparno. It’s the production guys. I’ve all the email that Ritu has sent to the producers. They’ve behaved very strangely. I’ve emailed the producers and my director Ritu saying I’m not going to dub only for the National award print. I’ll dub for the entire film. I’ve been waiting to dub since February. I’m even willing to dub with Ritu’s assistant if he’s busy. But the producers are coming up with one excuse after another. I’ve poured my heart out into this film. They’re looking for excuses for me not to dub.”Rituparno makes supportive noises from Varanasi where he’s shooting, saying, “If the artiste is willing and capable there’s no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to dub her own lines.”Now, here’s the twist in the tale. When we contacted the producers, Mahesh Ramanathan, COO, Reliance Big Pictures said, “This is a very sensitive subject. And Rituparno Ghosh would be the best person to answer why Bipasha hasn’t dubbed her own lines. Think about it, on our part, why would we not want Bipasha to dub? Her voice would only enhance the film’s equity.”We read between the lines. And gathered that perhaps Bips is barking up the wrong tree, with misplaced anger.