Skip to main content

777 Charlie - the beauty of regional adaptation

I do have mixed opinions about this latest Rakshit Shetty outing, impressing at times and faltering at others, but I am not here to talk about that.


Indian Cinema is going through an unprecedented time, where the cinema industries across regions are exploring multiple territories, and viewers are also receiving cross-cultural content with open arms. Many movies, especially from the regional industries of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam are getting released with the new tag of ‘Pan-Indian’ cinema, dubbing them in various languages in order to reach more people.


The most common and practical approach adopted is to shoot the movie in the native language (KGF in Kannada, RRR in Telugu, Vikram in Tamil, or Jana Gana Mana in Malayalam) and then dub them into three or four other languages. However, while doing this, what happens in only the dialogues get dubbed while several other linguistic indicators, for example, the billboard in the local language, are often lost in translation.


Here is where the 777 Charlie surprised me the most. I watched the Malayalam adaptation of the Kannada language movie and the holistic adaptation that they have done made the viewing experience way better. For starters, the dubbing of dialogues or the narration to Malayalam is not done in a textbook manner. Rather, regional variations and accents have been brought in to give the viewer a more natural feel. And the makers haven’t left the process just at that.


The scenes showing signboards on streets and on buildings have been reshot with the names in Malayalam. The characters have been rebased to Kerala. There is a scene where a character in the background reads a Malayalam newspaper. I don’t remember that particular character or the newspaper contributing directly to the storyline, yet they made the effort to reshoot. An event happens in the neighborhood, and they play a popular song from a Malayalam movie. The best of all was when they placed an iconic comic scene from a well-celebrated Malayalam movie, and the placing made sense contextually and also added to the humor quotient.


This is the perfect adaptation that I have seen, with little lost in translation. Of course, it takes way more effort to reshoot in four or five different languages. You would need additional props and professionals from the relevant regions to make it authentic. This may not b feasible for all such ‘pan-Indian’ movies. However, the viewer experience was indeed better.






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review : Scion Of Ikshvaku

Author : Amish Tripathi Genre : Mythological Fantasy Published On : 22 June 2015 Watch trailer on Youtube Buy Online! As the makers put it, this first installment of the Ram Chandra series is the most awaited literary blockbuster of the year. The frenzied wait had its effect on me, as I had pre-ordered a copy, days before its release. Obviously, the most weighted factor which prompted me into this craze was The Shiva Trilogy, the previous work of the boring banker turned happy author. Shiva Trilogy achieved its cult status for two major reasons: a) the plot being discussed offered a welcome change from the modern day love stories that had mushroomed up in the post Chetan era. b) The author had meticulously researched through Vedas and other ancient texts, and had reconstructed the very image of Shiva, into a very capable man rather than a miracle performing God. To quote the First City, Amish had succeeded on reintroducing Hindu mythology to the youth of t
4 comments
Read more

Chennai Tidbits

‘2/14, Salvation Army Guest House, Doveton St, Chennai’  this address followed by a ten digit phone number was all that I had of Mr. Nageshwar Rao, who was to become my roommate in my new 'home' that Chennai was. Vipin Das is my name, an employee of All India Radio, and I had been transferred from New Delhi to Chennai only a few days ago. So there I was, just outside the Chennai Central, drained and haggard after the grueling train journey that gifted me two sleepless nights. I approached an auto-rickshaw with baggage in my hands, and showed him the address I had. He asked me to get in, and I was traveling through the South Indian metro, a first time in my life. It was only six in the morning, and the city was just waking up. Some young professionals, probably long distance commuters, security guards, newspaper boys on cycle, trucks and light traffic were all I could see on road. I took out that card and dialed Mr. Rao. No response. Maybe he was still sleeping. After all, it
2 comments
Read more

The Plan

The son went and sat near his father. “It’s been a while, dad. How are things going?” “It really has been a while, hasn’t it? I stopped following time since God knows when.” “That’s quite unbecoming of you, dad. For what I know, you were someone who used to measure time and plan accordingly. Shall I say shrewd?” “I prefer meticulous. And yes, I used to measure time – every ounce of it. Each of my actions were prudently strategic. I wanted the best for myself and my folks.” “Are you telling me even I were a result of your deliberate planning? Interesting.” “You? Of course. Especially you. There was a time when my whole life was centered on you. I have had immense plans for you, even before you were born. Do you think you just happened to be born in the month of May?” “I am quite familiar with the nine months’ infancy phase, dad. I believe that though I came out only in May, I began to exist sometime in August, perhaps.” “That’s a way to look at it, righ
2 comments
Read more