“I secretly believe that I write better than I speak but it might manifest more fully only in the next birth”

HARISH BHIMANI tells JYOTHI VENKATESH in the first part of this long, informative, exclusive and exhaustive email interview given for bollyy.com and Mayapuri where he talks about his journey in his own lucid style

Is it true that you had written serials like ‘Khandaan’, ‘Sukanya’, ‘Grahan’, ‘Choti Badi Baatein’ and also directed a few films/TV serials?

Yes, in fact, originally I set out to become a writer & director. My very first assignment (at ISRO Satellite TV) was an adaptation of a landmark children’s series. Yes, I wrote dialogue for the first Indian corporate war serial Khandaan, screenplay-dialogue for Sukanya, Grahan, Subah, (on the subject of drugs based on Sivasankari’s Tamil novel Avan), Inkaar, Bheem Sain’s Chhoti Badi Baatein (5 episodes) & his short feature Roshni (screenplay) feature films SNIP, Paper Boat, ISIS, Kashmir - the Ultimate Resolution, Mejo – Life After Life, Dus Raajanya, and web series Sanyasi Raja for director Prakash Jha. I also wrote, directed and narrated some 35 short and documentary films, Lata Mangeshkar’s biography, six mini-biographies & hundreds of radio-TV commercials & corporate films. I secretly believe that I write better than I speak! This might manifest more fully in the next birth!

Were you the first choice to narrate Mahabharat?

Well, no and yes! The story of my selection was told to me in a grand party on the eve the crew and actors leaving for Jaipur for an extended shoot of the Kurukshetra war. Originally, the supreme triumvirate of the Mahabharat serial (BR Chopra, Dr Rahi Masoom Raza and Pandit Narendra Sharma) toyed with the idea of making the serial with Dilip Kumar making his first foray into narration. They had good on-going relations with the thespian. But for reasons unknown and unexpressed till date, the idea was dropped.

How did you bag the offer from B R Chopra?

Once it was decided that Samay would be a voice character rather than a person, they began a frantic search for a professional voice that was stylization-neutral and one which could be molded to a largely undefined description of Samay. Over the next two days, the troika went over hundreds of radio TV ads, documentaries, corporate videos to zero on the most moldable narrator who was not a slave to his own media persona. I was told that when they found me, and called me. So, you see, although I did not have to compete in an audition, it took three nerve-racking, touch & go recording sessions to determine the tone, pitch and pace of the Samay rendition. Already 12 years into advertising recordings, I was unaccustomed to the uncompromising meticulousness - what is loosely called ‘attempt at perfection’ in the entertainment industry. So, my real test was not auditioning, it was to arrive at replicating the way (the eternal) Time would narrate the Epic! How indeed does the Time speak?! Needless to say, no one knew what was expected of the confused young man who just decided to surrender himself to the stalwarts.

“Can you change your voice?” I was asked. I shot back, “Not unless I am attempting a caricature!” And they shot back, “No no. And we don’t want God’s voice either or even Aakashvani ! I told them “Can I try a rendition like I have never done before - or even heard before?” “For God’s sake, do! It’s been three days! Do you realize how serious your work is?” Rahi Sahab added, with a famous saying, “Haath kangan ko aarsi kya, padhe-likhe ko Farsi kya!”

I approached the mike with some trepidation. And the result was a slow, grating rumble, albeit with a touch of divinity & affectations of grandiose storytelling. I never thought that such aural ambling would work with almost no visuals on the TV screen, but the elders seemed to have found what they were searching for. And a new and almost strange cadence had found gait! Fortunately, no one has found it worth giving a serious shot at imitation over decades.So, in short, I didn’t do anything to ‘bag’ the project, but bent over backwards to make the extraordinary idea of Samay work. And I hope it has worked.

Didn’t you want to be part of Mahabharat as one of the actors of the serial?

It is said that in this world, people are doing myriad other jobs because they couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t become actors! But my scenario was different. At the time of the Mahabharata casting, the buzz was that all the tall and hefty actors who hadn’t made it big yet were flocking to BR TV for the Mahabharata casting! So, rush! But I didn’t rush. My thinking was that even if the Mahabharata was part history – part mythology, its characters were of mythical proportions and I had a very urbane, almost a boyish look about me. So, according to me, acting was out but voice acting was another matter. Also at that time, I was almost ruling the voice overs roost. Some 60% commercials on TV and radio were in my voice. I thought it was suicidal to disturb that juggernaut-like momentum. In fact, I had quite recently taken a conscious decision not to pursue acting (even in IPTA stage plays) because these conflicted with my voice recording dates, anchoring preps and TV news appearances. Once the focus was decided, I didn’t waver at all.

O.K.How did you cultivate your voice in the beginning and preserve your voice over the years?

Allow me to indulge. My voice cultivation story deserves a short film on YouTube! When I entered the frightful fray of ‘voice overs’ way back, there was no formal coaching available in the (micro) voice industry - not that there is much today. So, I approached one Sam Berkley Hill, the then reigning voice star to take me under his tutelage. But he was point-blank and refused, saying, “If I teach you, you might overtake me in… three years!” In my naiveté, I took it as a generous compliment! But no, he was serious. And I was ushered out unceremoniously! As I climbed down his narrow, poorly-lit stairs, the words “you might overtake me in three years,” rang nagging-ly in my ears. And I responded to myself, “Why three years, I will overtake you in just three months!” And that was a firm resolve. On my long journey back home, I systematically worked out (not without the help of an IPA dictionary) a voice culture syllabus for myself - AND followed it to the T from the very next morning. It comprised workouts on voice timbre, reading paces, pronunciation, expressions, languages… the works. After all these years, I still don’t like to miss these vocal exercises.

You were awarded the national award by the President of India for your voice lover for the Marathi film Mala Laaj Vaatat Nahi!

The year 2016 was a watershed year for me. The president’s award - part of the National Film Awards in the category of voice overs / narration - was a rare honor bestowed upon one in the voice space, nothing less than a Lifetime Achievement award. True, the award was for a short film entitled Mala Laaj vaatat naahi (मलालाज़वाटतनाही, No, ‘I’m Not Ashamed Of It’). Although the rather in- your-face title was in Marathi, the short film was multilingual with voice over in English.

Is it true that in your career you have recorded for over 24,000 voice-overs?

Although numbers are not everything, yes, I have now well crossed 25,000 recordings - what with the entire Gita being recorded in Sanskrit. Arguably, for the first time the shlokas will be narrated rather than sung. And BTW, I still average about 50 recordings a month.

You have also acted in a few films as well as TV serials.Why did you not continue with acting?

I have often battled with this question (of acting) myself . Names who matter in our film industry have asked me this. Apart from TV news anchoring (with which I began my career), I have made on screen appearances on, at least, 50 occasions, including feature films -sharing screen space with Utpal Dutt, Asha Parekh, Tanuja, Mithun Chakraborty, Bindiya Goswami etc. And well knew that it was too late to attempt lead roles. Honestly, it was difficult to strike the right balance between the two spaces as my voice career had hit the roof and was showing no signs of relenting. Besides, I didn’t want to disturb the niche I had carved for myself. As mentioned earlier, it was a conscious decision to decline acting offers, including prestigious IPTA stage plays in favour of my burgeoning voice recording work.

2nd part to continue