Sharad Returns as Bahubali's Voice in 'Baahubali: Crown of Blood'

We all are aware of Rajamouli's Baahubali. A film that created history. This film was discussed everywhere from the country to abroad. From the acting of the actor to the direction of the director, everyone got a lot of praise. This billion-grossing film has two parts, the first is 'Bahubali: The Beginning', and the second is 'Bahubali 2: The Conclusion'. Rajamouli is now bringing a prequel of this film which is an animated series. Its name is 'Baahubali: Crown of Blood'. This series is being aired on Disney Plus Hotstar. Let us tell you that the voice of Bahubali in this series has been given by the same person who had voiced the character of Prabhas in the Hindi film Bahubali. Sharad Kelkar gave a different identity to Bahubali in the Hindi belt with his voice and now once again the magic of Sharad's voice is going to spread on Disney plus Hotstar. Let us tell you what Sharad says about this series.

Sharad Kelkar Returns as Bahubali Voice!

How was the experience of voicing this animated series?

It felt very good because for any actor, playing a character that is iconic and at the same time having the liberty to play that character in his style. Got a chance to work with Rajamouli sir again, it was very exciting. Right now a new pattern is being followed which I want to tell those who do not know about it. This new pattern is such that first the writers write the story, then all the voice artists act, and then the animation is created. This is a new process which is interesting but also a bit difficult because we do not have any visual reference. We have done this process before also when we were doing 'The Legend of Hanuman', the same process was there also. Playing Baahubali was a lot of fun.

As seen in the scene, you have given excellent voice in the action scenes also. Would you like to say something about this?

I always say that dubbing is a very important factor for acting. You should know dubbing and you should learn this talent. When you are an artist, your every movement is very important and dubbing teaches you this. When you are dubbing for something, you have to think about many things and create the sound accordingly. These reactions are very important, people think it is easy but it is not so, standing in front of a mic in the studio and shouting with that aggression is very tough.

How was the experience of working with Rajamouli again?

It was very exciting. When it came to this animation series with SS Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan, its creators, I had worked with Sharad before, and working with Rajamouli again became the icing on the cake. All the memories became fresh. The question that must be running through the mind of the audience is what its plot is because both the films that came were from childhood till the time where the film ended, then what is its story? Let me tell you, this story is somewhere in between. When he was making Baahubali, many ideas must have come to his mind and this series has been based on one of those ideas. We are very excited about this new series. Hope people will like it.

You have given voice to Ravana in 'The Legend of Hanuman', you are a very versatile actor.

As an actor, there is a process when you understand a character. With Disney Plus Hotstar for giving me such a big iconic character. These two characters are very similar and unlike each other, like both of them are physically very strong but the nature of these two characters is very different from each other. It was a very fun experience in which I got to learn a lot. When you have good creators then the work becomes easier Sharad and Jeevan write very well and our dubbing director Rajeev Ji also does excellent work. This is a combined effort of all of us, when those people are not physically present then they see our work on Zoom calls. I think the writing part is the most important, I always say that the writer should get the most respect in the industry because writing a story after thinking about something is a very difficult and different art. Sadly, they do not get as much value as they should. When the story is good then the work of the actor and director becomes easy. Everything was explained well in the script because it is an animation so every little thing is written in the script. The scripts are so well written that as an actor you can close your eyes and visualize everything. Disney Plus Hotstar and Sharad proved this in 'Legend of Hanuman', what a good quality animation it is, and its new season is also coming next month. There is a very good sequence between Hanuman ji, Ravana's brother Kumbhkaran, and his son in the upcoming season. This is also going to be very interesting in which you will get to see many shades of Ravana. Playing the character of Ravana was a very fun experience for me because I got to play so many shades of the same character.

You used to stammer, how was your journey from there to here?

Some people in life do not do anything until they are hit from behind. At every precept of life, I learn good things somewhere and nowhere. When I came to Mumbai and was trying to work, I knew I was looking but performing was an area I knew nothing about. And is a very important part of classic Bollywood stars but how when you stammer? Many times his show came out, he was made fun of at many places and then when he got this stick, I realized that if something has to be done then it has to be done right first. I believe that every person should be aware of his/her strengths and characteristics and maybe a book should be written about his/her strengths and qualities and how to make a good quality better. Improve and reduce poor quality. We have become so many couples in our life that we did not even think about ourselves, so we gave ourselves a little time and talked about it because if you give yourself a little time then it is a very easy task.

What would you like to say to your fans and admirers?

I would like to tell those who want to become voice-over artists that this field is as difficult as acting. If you remain engaged in any work with dedication then you get success. I too have come through the same process and it took at least 12 to 13 years for my voice to get recognition. Work with dedication, don't give up, just keep moving forward in life, and keep learning. I think it is most important to continuously work towards your target. I still work on myself and it happens that I still stammer at times, this is a process that will continue. Just pay attention to how much you are improving day by day. I don't talk about perfection but I talk about improvement.

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