Bengaluru-based comedian Danish Sait said he had a fun time dubbing for Lijo Jose Pellissery’s ‘Malaikottai Vaaliban’, which will hit theatres on January 25. The comedian-turned-actor, known popularly for his prank call videos titled Video Sandwich, admitted he had some trouble uttering a few of the Malayalam words in the film, but he managed to dub all the scenes by himself.
“Lijo broke into laughter hearing me dub for one scene. But, yeah, I managed to dub in all four languages for the movie, including Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada,” he said.
He quipped he thought all Malayalis spoke the same way Malayalam is spoken in the movie. “I even asked people in the dubbing studio if everyone spoke like this. They said Malayalam spoken in the movie is peppered with a lot of historical dialect,” he added.
Though he had a good time dubbing for the movie, he said the experience of shooting for the film was tough on him on a personal level. “To be honest, the shoot for the film in Rajasthan took a toll on me. It must have been the vast expanse of land and terrain in Jaisalmer and Pokhran. But there were days I would feel lonely. Everyone, on the set, was friendly. But, you don’t want to cross anyone’s personal space. The vibe on the sets of my earlier films was different since I was always involved in projects with my friends. This was a whole new experience for me,” he said.
He added that Lijo and the film producer Shibu Baby John were extremely understanding of his situation. “They knew my wife was my pillar of strength during the tough times. When I got sick, Shibu took the trouble to fly my wife from Bengaluru so that she could be with me. Lijo too was extremely kind to let me fly to Bengaluru when I felt low,” he added.
He, however, said he would not trade this ‘Malaikottai Vaaliban’ experience for anything else. “Just imagine, working with the greats of Malayalam cinema. Not everyone gets that opportunity and I feel privileged to be considered for this role that I got to play,” said Danish.
The comedian-turned-actor, however, is tight-lipped about his role in the movie. “But, let me tell you, I got to act in some very good scenes,” he said. So, how did he get involved with the film? “My emotional answer is Lijo is a god sent. However, the pragmatic answer is I got involved in 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' thanks to the music producer Prashanth Pillai. Lijo wanted me to be part of another film, but then 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' happened in between. That’s how Lijo called me for this project,” he said.
According to Danish, Lijo is not only a visionary director but also a great human being. “We were not friends when we started. But we became really good friends as the process ended. He will always be very dear to me. He is a cinematic genius who has his heart in the right place,” he said.
The actor was also full of praise for Mohanlal, who would regale him and the rest of the team with stories from his experience working in other sets or life in general. “From what I understand, Mohanlal sir is well-read and well-informed. He told me he had seen my work. If you ask me if he is social media savvy, I can tell you he loves watching YouTube content,” Danish said.
