Arvind Mehra, voice of Bear Grylls in Man vs Wild

Arvind Mehra has been active in the world of voice over and dubbing for almost 45 years. Some people also call him Amitabh Bachchan of the dubbing world. He has given his voice in films and many web series. This mainly includes international projects.

Today he has also opened his own production house. Now he also produces many ad videos. Arvind Mehra is knowledgeable in not just one but four languages. He has very good knowledge of Hindi, English, Urdu and Bhojpuri.

In the latest episode of Reel to Real, we visit Arvind Mehra's Mumbai office Subhash Studio. We talked to him about the process of voice over and dubbing-

Being the voice of Bear Grylls in Man vs Wild was the most special - Arvind
You have done so many shows, which show is closest to your heart? In response, Arvind Mehra said, 'I had been the voice of Bear Grylls in the show Man vs Wild on Discovery for many years. Although now I have left this show. Being the voice of Bear Grylls and becoming famous makes me really happy.

Bear Grylls once came to India. When he heard his Hindi dubbing, he was quite impressed. He asked the people present there who had dubbed my voice? People pointed towards me. That's how I met him.

Arvind doesn't take care of his voice, doesn't even like to practice.
How do you take care of your voice? What would you say to those making a career in the field of voice over and dubbing? Arvind Mehra said, 'Everyone in my house has a very good voice. Maybe that's why this art came into me too. I don't take much care of my voice. I try to keep it natural. For this reason I don't even do Riyaz etc.

As far as making a career is concerned, some people think that only if there is a heaviness or bass in their voice, they will be able to move ahead. it's not like that at all. There may not be that heaviness in your voice, but if you know how to say the same sentence in different ways, then you will definitely be successful. The only criterion to be successful in the world of dubbing and voice over is to practice as much as you can.

Arvind said that he never took any special care of his voice in his life. Just don't stop practicing.

I didn't like working within the boundaries, so I opened my own dubbing studio.
Why did you decide to open your own dubbing studio? In response, Arvind Mehra said, 'The decision to open a studio was not easy. In fact, if I went to another place, I was put under a lot of limitations. The script was not according to me.

I thought I could do better than this. While dubbing, I felt that this line should be said in some other way, but I was limited to the limits, so I could not make it better on my own.

Thinking this, I opened my studio. Initially there was a fear that if I opened a studio, people from outside would stop hiring me, but my decision proved to be right. Our studio failed, the reason was that we charged less money than others.

Arvind used to do anchoring in the beginning of his career, also played a role in Mr. India
Arvind Mehra has lent his voice in films like Aashiqui, Parinda, Ram Lakhan, Phool Aur Kaante, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi and Raajneeti. At the beginning of his career, Arvind used to be a news anchor. Impressed by his anchoring skills, film maker Shekhar Kapur gave him a role in the film Mr. India.

The person reading the news in a scene of the film was none other than Arvind Mehra. Apart from this, his voice has also been used in the famous ads of Rin and Wheel soap.

AI is a threat to voice over artists, there is a need to make strict rules against it
Nowadays AI (Artificial Intelligence) is eating up the jobs of a lot of voice over and dubbing artists. Do you consider the increasing scope of AI dangerous? Arvind said, 'AI is dangerous. The sounds emanating from AI do not sound natural. When we talk, we often pause. In AI a person talks directly in one flow.

Our association is considering dealing with this problem. We are making a rule under which no company can use our voice through AI without permission.

Arvind Mehra has lent his voice to many big Hollywood films including Munich, The Age of War and Extraction 2. He has also lent his voice for many shows on Netflix. Apart from all this, his voice over can also be heard in the promos of serials coming on Colors, Zee and Star.

There are many opportunities in the world of dubbing and voice over.
How to get work in the world of dubbing and voice over? In response, Arvind says, 'At this time, I am getting a lot of work. Many production houses like ours need new people with good voices.

Look at my production house for example. We dub movies and shows from around the world into Indian languages. It is obvious that one person is not enough for so many characters. A dubbing artist is required for every other character. If you have the strength to face the mic. If you have command over the language then there is no dearth of opportunities in this field.

Special attention is given to the language while dubbing, it is not easy to convert English dialogues into Hindi.
How work is done in Arvind Mehra's Subhash Studio. On the entire process, the company's CEO Mandira said, 'There are many departments in our studio. One of these is the technical department. The job of the technical department is to purchase new equipment. They are responsible for purchasing new mics etc.

We have an operations team. It is their job to work with the client and understand their needs and deliver the paperwork to the artist. The job of the finance team is to manage money and prepare budgets.

Finally comes the creative team. Their job is to watch original shows and movies and dub them in Hindi or any other language. For example, suppose a film is in English and a fight between goons is being shown in it. Our creative team prepares aggressive dialogues accordingly. Then the dubbing artist repeats the dialogues in the same tone. The job of the creative team is to understand the sequence and prepare dialogues accordingly.

During this time we pay a lot of attention to language. For example, suppose we are dubbing a film based on LGBTQ issues. Since this is a slightly sensitive topic, we pay special attention to the language while dubbing. Special care is taken to ensure that the dialogues do not offend anyone.

Dubbing English films in Hindi language is not easy. Many times English words have different meanings. While dubbing in Hindi, they have to pay attention that its reference has not changed.

The mixing engineer at Subhash Studio says, 'The audio that comes during live shooting is not clear. We edit that audio first. Sound is added according to the scene.

For example, if a character is talking from a distance, we add such a sound that it seems as if the character is talking from a distance. Similarly, if a character talks while standing in a washroom or a big hall, his voice echoes. We use resonant sound accordingly. Dolby sound has been installed in our office. This gives us advantage in mixing. It feels like we are watching a movie in a theater.

Arvind Mehra is knowledgeable in four languages
Arvind Mehra is knowledgeable in four languages. He knows Hindi, English, Urdu and Bhojpuri. Arvind is originally from Lucknow, hence his Urdu is quite good. Arvind does dubbing and voice over for films and web shows. Apart from this, many ad videos are also produced. Arvind recently received the ‘Based Documentary Voice Dubbing’ award at Voice Fest 2023.