While watching a movie, have we stopped to wonder who the dubbing artistes behind all of Kollywood’s glamorous heroines are? Meet Raveena Ravi, one of the prominent faces behind this. Still fresh from the high of dubbing Amy Jackson’s voice for Theri, and Ranya Rao’s voice for Wagah, she speaks to us about her journey as a dubbing artiste and more. We also hear from the horse’s mouth about acting as a heroine in the film Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu!
The daughter of popular dubbing artiste Sreeja Ravi, Raveena says that being a voiceover artiste is in her blood. “My grandmother too was in the same profession. So it was natural that I followed suit,” says the 23-year-old. Hailing from Kerala, she completed her schooling and college in Chennai, but says that her heart never was in academics. “I recently completed my UG degree from Ethiraj College, but when I was in first year, I signed my first project as a dubbing artiste. I was so proud that I was earning at such a young age, and knew that I wanted to take it up professionally,” she adds.
When asked which her most interesting experience has been so far she says — “One of Shankar sir’s associate directors called and asked me to come for a voice test. I showed up at the studio not knowing which film I was auditioning for. Upon casually asking him, he said I was to dub for Amy Jackson in I! My palms started sweating — the very first dialogue I had to try was the Tamil slang one.” But being the talented youngster she is, she hit the nail on the head, and thus signed her fourth film.
Even though she’s had some misses and gotten negative feedback, it’s mostly been a smooth journey. “My mother was to dub for Nayanthara for the film Bhaskar the Rascal (Malayalam), but when we were in Kerala for the dubbing, she suggested to the director that I give it a shot. I read three to four dialogues and he was impressed, so I went on to complete the film. Nayan even messaged me later saying she was really impressed, and recommended that I dub for a few more of her films,” smiles Raveena.
But doesn’t her personal life take a hit due to her busy schedule? “I do miss meeting my friends, but when I give life to a character on screen, I feel so elated. I have such a blast in the studio — the directors and I laugh at the pilot audio track, especially when non-Tamil speaking heroines mess up the dialogues.”
Speaking about heroines, Raveena was offered to play the female lead in the film Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu, opposite Vidharth. “It was such a great experience being in front of the camera. It’s a village subject, yet it was quite ironic that I hardly had dialogues in the movie!” she laughs. “Until I acted in this movie, I thought that dubbing for crying scenes was difficult. But trust me, romance is way worse!” she concludes on a lighter note.
