Shreyas Talpade on Pushpa 2 Hindi's box office success: I haven’t seen this kind of praise for a dubbed film

Actor Shreyas Talpade talks about dubbing for actor Allu Arjun in the Hindi version of the hit Pushpa 2: The Rule.

Actor Shreyas Talpade, who voiced Allu Arjun’s titular character in Hindi in both Pushpa: The Rise and the recently released sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule, has received widespread praise for his dubbing. Ask how he feels about it and he says, “Many films are dubbed. And there are many artistes who do it on a daily basis. But I haven’t been able to figure out how Pushpa is any different. But in my entire career, I had never seen this kind of praise for a dubbed film or the person who dubbed it.”

Shreyas Talpade

The 48-year-old, who will next be seen in the biographical action drama Emergency, believes that his performance as a voice over artiste has struck a chord with the audiences in ways that are rare for a dubbed film. He says, “There are many films which are dubbed, many artists who do it on a daily basis. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what is it that the audiences found different with Pushpa,” adding, “I haven’t seen this kind of praise for a dubbed film, even for the person who has dubbed, in my entire career.”

While Talpade may have lent his voice to Arjun’s character Pushpa Raj, he reveals he is yet to cross paths with the actor or the film’s director, Sukumar. “I have never met or interacted with Sukumar ji (director) or Allu ji. Someone from their team is there when I dub,” shares the actor, adding, “Sometimes, I suggest ‘yeh achha lagega’, but at times they want me to stick to what the director wants. And that is what I have been taught: to follow the conviction of the director — good, bad, ugly.”

Ask the actor the reason behind the immense success of the film, even the dubbed version and Talpade attributes it to the strength of the material and the creative direction of the filmmaker. “Full marks to Sukumar and Allu Arjun,” he says, adding, “I do my part with utmost honesty. Luckily that has worked for me in both parts. The response I am getting is humbling. It is of course not easy to recreate same emotions inside a studio, I admit.”

While his fans have showered him with admiration, his own family’s reaction has been equally heart warming. “My mother is a big Allu fan. She watches almost all his films. A woman of a few words, she just said ‘I liked it, and what you did’ when she watched the first part of the film,” Talpade shares. His wife, however, was even more enthusiastic. “She liked the second part more. She exclaimed loudly when she saw the teaser ‘what have you done? It sounds so good!’”

Now that the third instalment in the franchise, Pushpa 3: The Rampage, has been announced, does the actor have any update? “Nothing has been told to me yet. Whenever they do, I will be there,” he ends.