Vidya Balan, who had a lean 2015, is all set to strike big in 2016-17. One of her biggest challenges this year is to play the poet-extraordinaire Kamala Das.
To be directed by eminent Malayalam director Kamal, the Kamala Das bio-pic titled My Story, shooting for which begins in September, will see Vidya speak in Malayalam, English and Hindi.
The challenge for the actress is to sound like Kamala Das without mimicking her. A voice coach is being brought on board to ensure Vidya gets the nuances right. “Voice casting” is on at this very moment whereby a linguistic specialist will teach Vidya Balan to speak like Kamala Das.
Indian cinema’s most accomplished sound designer Resul Pookutty, who has created aural magic in films as far-ranging as Slumdog Millionaire, Ra One, Enthiran (Robot), Black and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is on board to give a fully credible audio life to Vidya Balan.
Says Resul, “The challenge here is not only to make Vidya Balan look like Kamala Das but also to ensure she sounds like her. Vidya insists she’ll speak her own Malayalam. She does know Malayalam, but not so fluently. We’re doing voice casting, so that a professional Malayalam speaking voice trainer can guide Vidya through her dialogues.”
Resul will also resort to technology to get Vidya to sound like the rebellious feminist poetess. “We have voice recordings of Kamala Das’ poetry recitations. Once the voice coach finishes instructing Vidya I’ll use a special software to make her voice sound as close to Kamala Das as possible.”
