Thiruvananthapuram: Top dubbing artiste Anandavalli died at a private hospital here on Friday. She was 62. She had given voice in innumerable films and also won the Kerala government’s award for the best dubbing artiste along with other honours.
Venturing into the dubbing scene with ‘Devi Kanyakumari’ in 1973, Anandavalli lent her voice to all the leading heroines during the 1980s. Poornima Jayaram, Geetha, Madhavi, Menaka, Suhasini, Santhi Krishna and Meera Jasmine were among the actresses who spoke in Anandavalli’s voice.
Anandavalli won the Kerala government’s award for Geetha’s voice in the 1992 movie ‘Aadhaaram’.
In all, Anandavalli worked in around 3,000 movies and over 10,000 characters spoke through her. She even lent her voice to seven different characters in one film. Notably, actresses Lakshmi and Urvashi spoke through Anandavalli in ‘Bharatham’. She dubbed for five actresses in ‘Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans’ and for three persons in ‘Santhwanam’. In ‘Vendor Daniel State Licency’, she spoke the dialogue for three different people in the same frame.
First dubbing of Mammoottty, Mohanlal
In an interview, Anandavalli had recalled several interesting episodes in her career. “Geetha has acted in 115 Malayalam movies and it was I who dubbed for her in all of them. One condition that Geetha placed when she took up a role was that I would lend her voice. It was for Geetha’s role in ‘Aadhaaram’ that I won the first state award,” she said.
Anandavalli also dubbed for Poornima Jayaram in Mohanlal’s debut film ‘Manjil Virinja Pookkal’. “At that time, Mohanlal had met with a bike accident and could not walk. He sat on a plastic chair and dubbed for the first time. Those days, Lal was such a thin lad with a small face and curly hair,” remembered Anandavalli.
Incidentally, Mammootty’s debut in dubbing also was with Anandavalli. They worked together again for countless movies. “We sat together for the movie ‘Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal’. I gave the voice for Suhasini. There is a scene in which Suhasini dies in a car crash and for perfection, Mammookka and I dubbed in the same mike,” she said.
Another curious case was ‘Pothan Vava’ in which Anandavalli lent her voice to Usha Uthup. “Most people believe that it is her own voice. In fact, I had studied her voice and imitated it,” said the legendary dubbing artiste.
One of the most moving films that Anandavalli was involved with was ‘Akasadoothu’. The scene in which actress Madhavi prays before the idol and the dialogue made Anandavalli cry. “It was the scene that shows the death of Madhavi. The dialogue went, ‘One day. I need one day more. I am still not tired of seeing my kids. Give me one more day. That is my only prayer.’ Before completing these words, Madhavi’s character dies. I too could not hold back my tears. Director Siby Malayil and everyone else who were present at the dubbing also cried. I lost my voice as a result of the sobs soon after I completed the dialogue. Later, during the preview in the theatre also everyone, including the stars, broke down,” recalled Anandavalli.
