Local TV host finds dubbing 'Kabali' into Malay challenging

V. Arun Kumaran, who had assumed the responsibility of dubbing actor Rajinikanth's voice in the movie 'Kabali' into the Malay language, has found the task extremely challenging.

Not only does the job requires vivid imagination for the action-packed movie, but also the voice needs versatility and different kinds of intonation.

"At first, I thought it was going to be easy but after undergoing the dubbing process for 10 days, I realised the task was not as easy as I had expected.

"It was because I needed to pay attention to the content, the timing, tone of voice and emotional feelings expressed in the dialogue," he told Bernama recently.

Arun was among local celebrities entrusted to dub the movie, Rajinikanth's 159th, from Tamil into Malay for the first time by Malik Streams Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Others tasked with dubbing in the movie are actress Fathia Latiff who dubs for Dhansika, playing the role of Rajinikanth's daughter in the film and actor Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan who dubs for the villain character.

The film also features local actors, namely Datuk Rosyam Nor, Norman Hakim, Zack Taipan and Tony Kassim and popular Taiwan actor Winston Chao.

Arun said that the dubbing was done in Chennai, India on June 17 and all those involved were flown there.

"My dubbing session alone took 10 days, and every day I took about 14 hours to do it," he said.

The 27-year-old said he injured his throat several times until he lost his voice when dubbing for India's 'Superstar' especially while shouting and raising his voice like him.

The Malay version of 'Kabali', which was to be shown on the silver screen next Friday, has been postponed to July 29 for some reason, probably to give way for the original Tamil version that will be screened simultaneously worldwide next Friday.

Meanwhile, for the film's script translator Mohd Hafizfuddin Derani, better known as Hafid Derani, the challenges he faced while translating the script was to ensure that the dialogue spoken in Malay was easily understood and carried the same meaning as the Tamil version.

Hafid, who is also working for the first time with the famous world class Tamil film production company V Creations, also expressed his feeling of pride and excitement with the offer to work with them.

"I learned a lot from them (Indian crew) whose experience and knowledge is far beyond ours. The gap between the Malaysian and Indian film industry is very big, we are lagging more than 30 years behind them," he said.

In 'Kabali', Rajinikanth whose real name is Shivaji Rao, plays the role of a crime don in Malaysia known as Kabaliswaran, the name of the movie.

The 'Kabali' sensation was felt in Malaysia when 'flashmobs' were held at several locations nationwide to promote the film, while AirAsia Bhd is also promoting the film in-flight.