Refreshing voice
PREMA MANMADHAN
|
Vimmy Mariam George dubbed for Khushboo in `Kaiyyoppu' and won an award for her maiden assignment in films.
|
We work behind the scenes but that does not mean our contribution is any less. Vimmy
Photo: Vipin Chandran
ACCOLADES: Vimmy Mariam George's asset has always been her voice.
Vimmy Mariam George cannot hide her excitement and joy on winning the State Film Award for the Best Dubbing Artiste (Female) of 2006. It was her maiden movie dubbing assignment and the accolades came most unexpectedly.
She dubbed for Khushboo in `Kaiyyoppu.' Ninety per cent of the dialogues were pictured over the phone and the emotions these conversations had to carry were myriad and challenging: hesitant, romantic, remorseful, hopeful, sad and joyful.
People who saw `Kaiyyoppu' wondered who did the dubbing for Khushboo, for the voice is fresh, spoke the English and Malayalam lines naturally and flawlessly. Although Vimmy is a veteran in radio journalism, and a good singer, she did not have any experience in dubbing.
Maiden film
"I never ever thought that I would get this offer. I went for the audition for a lark and was surprised when I was selected. Ranjit Sir would make me do it over and over again and help me with my work. In fact, he taught me all about dubbing, about bringing in the right emotions in the voice." She did the dubbing for `Smart City' after that but that was released first.
Vimmy has always been engaged in something to do with her voice since Kamukara Purushothaman introduced her to the audience when she was just three years old, during a ganamela at Kulashekharam.
She sang the song, `Surangani... ' then. Vimmy learnt classical music for some time but she turned to devotionals later, singing for more than 300 audio cassettes.
Among the music contests she won, she treasures the hat-trick victory at the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival, while doing her graduation at BCM College. She was the singer for the Margamkali group. Apart from singing for children's cassettes and jingles, she did theatre spots, TV commercials, radio spots, and 30 CD albums.
With Unni Menon, she hosted `Hamsdhwani,' the first anthakshari show on Doordarshan, in Malayalam, which turned into a hit.
"It was a very fulfilling job then as everybody watched only DD then. Later I hosted many cultural programmes on Surya, Asianet and Kairali channels," Vimmy reminisces.
FM radio announcer
Dubbing for serials came later as also radio plays. It was during one of her stage shows in the Gulf that Vimmy got the offer as a FM announcer, when she was in her early twenties. She is perhaps the first Malayalam FM radio programme presenter in Asia.
Vimmy did live programmes way back in 1998 on 106.2 HUM FM, which was Pakistan owned. Vimmy worked in the Gulf for more than six years. Her memorable stage shows in the Gulf include singing with K.J. Yesudas, S.P. Balasubrahmaniam and K.S. Chitra. "As soon as I came back to India, I became a member of the Dubbing Association," she says.
Vimmy is happy that dubbing artistes are given recognition today unlike the old days, when her colleagues were not given their due. "We work behind the scenes but that does not mean our contribution is any less. In fact in my short association with the film industry, the kind of support that I have got from the association is noteworthy," says Vimmy.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
