Many top actors around the world have dubbed for animated characters. But in producer Jayantilal Gada’s animated film Mahabharat, you will also see the faces of the actors who have dubbed for the part. And these include some of the biggest names in Bollywood. Animation characters that look like actors from Amitabh Bachchan, (Bheeshma) to Ajay Devgn (Arjuna). There are also many other A-List actors (see box) in key roles.
Gada says, “This has never been done before anywhere in the world. We have used the faces of the stars for the characters they have dubbed for.” He says getting the dates for dubbing of big artistes was not without its problems. “Many people have attempted this but I don’t think anybody has managed to get a multi-starcast to dub for a Hindi film. It’s difficult to co-ordinmate everyone’s dates as they are all busy.” He reveals that Big B had initially refused to dub and be part of the film, “But overnight we made a dummy of the film and showed it to him the next morning. When he saw it, he immediately said yes!”
He says that Mahabharat is India’s most expensive animation film. “We have taken a Rs50 crore insurance on the film. It was a costly job and it took seven years for us to make because there are so many characters and for every main character, we have taken a big Bollywood star.”
He adds that there are 15 stars associated with the film but none of them charged fees to be part of the film. While Gada lists all the actors who have dubbed for the characters in the epic, he is reluctant to disclose the name of the star who has dubbed for Krishna. “I won’t disclose it now. I will ask the public after they see the film who they think it is!”
Who plays what?
Bheeshma
Amitabh Bachchan
Arjun
Ajay Devgn
Karna
Anil Kapoor
Draupadi
Vidya Balan
Yudhisthira
Manoj Bajpayee
Bheem
Sunny Deol
Duryodhan
Jackie Shroff
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