Vidya Balan, who had a lean year in 2015 is all set to strike big in 2016-17. One of her biggest challenges this year is to play the poet-extraordinaire Kamala Das.
Vidya Balan, who had a lean year in 2015 is all set to strike big in 2016-17. One of her biggest challenges this year is to play the poet-extraordinaire Kamala Das. To be directed by eminent Malayalam director Kamal, the Kamala Das biopic titled My Story, which begins shooting in September, will see Vidya speak in Malayalam, English and Hindi.
The challenge for the actress is to sound like Kamala Das without mimicking her. A voice coach is being brought on board to ensure Vidya gets the nuances of the original.
That’s not all. Voice casting is on at this very moment whereby a linguistic specialist will teach Vidya to speak like Kamala Das.
One of Indian cinema’s most renowned sound designer Resul Pookutty, who has lent his expertise to films such as Slumdog Millionaire, Ra.One, Enthiran (Robot), Black and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is on board to give a fully credible audio life to Vidya.
Says Resul, “The challenge here is not only to make Vidya look like Kamala Das but also to ensure they sound similar. Vidya insists she’ll speak her own Malayalam. She does know Malayalam, but not so fluently. We’re doing voice casting, so that a professional Malayalam speaking voice trainer can guide Vidya through her dialogues.”
Resul will also resort to technology to get Vidya to sound like the rebellious feminist poetess. “We have voice recordings of Kamala Das’ poetry recitations. Once the voice coach finishes instructing Vidya, I’ll use a special software to make her voice sound as close to Kamala Das’ as possible.”
