International Conference on Dubbing and Subtitling

From: Press Trust (press release) - Bombay,India - Dec 27, 2004

If you thought dubbing was only about translation & matching lips,the upcoming conference on dubbing may prove it wrong. This conference is held in Germany every two years which has visitors from across the globe. Bombay based Dubbing Consultant,Sameer Bhardwaj,says "Its an important platform to meet all professionals in the field & share notes.I will be the first Indian to attend this conference"

Sameer has been in dubbing/localization arena for over a decade & feels that dubbing industry across globe has witnessed definite changes in terms of techniques/business volumes. With further increase of content creation/distribution across all mediums the dubbing/subtitling market has more role to play.

But in India the situation is different.Says Bhardwaj "The market is still growing.The existing team of directors,translators etc are self-taught who have bettered their art over the years of experience.We don't have a professional /or govt body offering a specialized course in dubbing direction, voice acting,etc.Once there is degree & professional preparation in this the whole scenario will change."

"Abroad the whole situation is very professional.The companies ensure the work is assigned to a professional(Foreign language Supervisor).They have strong bodies(union) whereby interests of all are secured more so as their dubbing industry is worth millions.Also there is lot of research in dubbing & localization which doesn't exist here.

In US it is common for a known celebrity to lend voice for animation films which is again rare in India.I think its harmful as this will only hinder the growth of local animation work.There is recognition for the dubbing abroad whereby special awards are instituted for dubbing which again is neglected at Indian awards function.

Dubbing industry in India ,which came in to focus after dubbed "Jurassic Park" broke all records, has outgrown itself in terms of volumes with satellite channels also dishing a dubbed feed for movies/programming content.But most dubbing studios/companies act as "arbitrager" & profit thereby.

With Lagaan & Devdas rekindling world's interest in Indian films it would be interesting to see how foreign dubbed versions of Indian films fare across the world market."

There is no Subtitling or Captioning on Indian satellite channels for the deaf community. Elsewhere there are strict laws for this & the deaf community too enjoys variety of programming.I hope the Indian government will take some definite steps to incoporate above.

"All talents in this business have been for long and they haven't ever been recognized.It makes them feel so anonymous but they exist and they do contribute.''

© 2005 Press Trust