Actor Gaurav Chopraa has been the voice of Thor -- the God of Thunder -- in the Hindi version of Hollywood films featuring the superhero. He says Indian TV also needs to have "more globally appealing superheroes".
"Someone had come up with Shaktimaan in the 90s. Shaktimaan was on Doordarshan. Now, the audience has changed. The young Indian audience is well versed with international TV and cinema.
"So, we need to make more globally appealing superheroes here. And I am right here to play them," Gaurav, a fan of Batman, told IANS when asked about Indian superheroes on TV.
He has dubbed in Hindi for "Thor: Ragnarok", "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame", which is currently smashing box office records in India.
"It's a challenge because I don't just give the voice. I act it out in the studio. People make videos of me while doing it and later on, blackmail me because it's funny to see me punching in the air," the "Uttaran" said here with a laugh.
"I live the entire process. So, it gets tiring, challenging but it's also a lot of fun," he added.
It's tough as well.
"You can't just give me random funny translation for something. I have to make sense of why I am saying it. So, we get into a lot of debates and change lines but it's thoroughly satisfying. In that whole set-up where we dub the film, I am Thor and not because I am giving the voice for it but because for them, I have become Thor," he said about giving voice-over to the character, which is famously portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the Hollywood films.
Gaurav is happy that such movies become blockbusters in India, but he wants more people to watch them in Hindi or other Indian languages that they are dubbed in.
"If more people will watch, the quality (of the dubbed versions) will improve. Think about this, there is a foreign film coming to our land, making so much money. Shouldn't it be our version? Shouldn't it be our language?
"Give it a shot, watch it. You might actually enjoy it," he said.
Meanwhile, he will be playing the lead role in Zee TV's upcoming show "Aghori".
The show promises to do away with all the stereotypes surrounding love and happy endings and present a love story set against the backdrop of the Aghori world.
