Cartoon call

Hindi voice-over artistes for animated TV shows are earning Rs 1 lakh a month

Every time he switches on the television to catch a glimpse of his favourite animated character Chhota Bheem, 14-year-old Vatsal Dubey can’t help but beam with pride.

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The young Mumbaikar, who has been the voice of Chhota Bheem on Pogo ever since the show began, loves the fact that he has played a big role in popularising his mother tongue Hindi.

“Speaking Hindi comes naturally to most youngsters like me. I love reading Hindi books, magazines and newspapers and that helps me improve my language skills. My aim is to make the language more popular among children for which I constantly work on my diction, pronunciation and versatility. I would love to continue this as it is also a good career option,” says Dubey, who has also lent his voice to Krishna’s character is another cartoon series titled Krishna Balram.

Another voice-over artiste Ghazal Javed is also happy that she took up a career that requires interacting in Hindi. “I started doing voice-overs while I was in the final year of my graduation. I’ve been doing the voice-over for Chamki’s character in Galli Galli Sim Sim, a pre-school educational programme in Hindi, for the last seven years. I’m also a senior muppet consultant with Sesame Workshop India and I also write scripts for projects on All India Radio. All these projects allow one to be creative, spontaneous and hone one’s writing and speaking skills,” says the 27-year-old.

From lending your voice for corporate films, voice-overs for cartoons, mobile games to channel promos, jingles, mimicry and live events, the options for voice-over artistes are many. “Hindi shows and voiceovers connect very well with the audience as the language is spoken across the country. Most shows on radio and television, be it for children or adults, are made in Hindi and require artistes and writers who have good command over the language,” Javed adds.

“Most voiceover artistes who pursue this on a regular basis can earn up to Rs 1 lakh a month, depending on the quality and quantum of the work available. A degree in Hindi is an added advantage as the demand and market for Hindi mass media is growing immensely,” says Amarkant Dubey, voice-over director for Chhota Bheem and Vatsal’s father.

I want to make Hindi even more popular. That’s why I work on my diction and pronunciation Vatsal Dubey, voice-over artiste for Chhota Bheem