Sharad Kelkar On Dubbing For Yash In Ramayana : 'Toughest Role Of His Career

Sharad Kelkar shared insights into voicing Yash’s Ravana for the Hindi dub of Nitesh Tiwari’s epic Ramayana. Kelkar revealed that the director and core creative team personally sought him out after he had expressed an interest in collaborating with Tiwari during a previous meeting.

The actor mused on the technical demands of the role, his detailed dialogue with Yash, and Tiwari's unique cinematic vision for the demon king, Ravana. He also lavished praise on Yash’s meticulous preparation, singling out several standout scenes that left a strong impression during the recording sessions.

Kelkar maintained, "Yash has given an outstanding performance. He is the best choice for the role and he understood the character perfectly. Dubbing for him was not at all easy. I would describe it as interesting because Yash speaks Hindi quite well. But as someone who speaks mostly in Kannada, he has an accent and his rhythm with Hindi words was a bit of an issue. The entire team felt his voice needed to be dubbed for the Hindi version. In Kannada, he has done a brilliant job. He has a fantastic voice.”

Sharad Kelkar Lauds Yash's Commitment

Highlighting his personal favorite moments from the film, Kelkar pointed to the ten-head scene, the Vidyutjihva sequence, and the opening sequence depicting Ravana seeking boons from Lord Brahma.

Kelkar raved about Yash’s extraordinary dedication to the part: “It was one of my most tiring dubbing experiences. I cannot imagine how much effort Yash put in to ace this role. I feel this is the toughest role of his career and he has done an outstanding job. There are a couple of scenes conceived by Nitesh Sir, which I absolutely love. One of them is the 10 heads scene, then the Vidyutjihva one and the opening one where he seeks all the boons from Brahma.”

To capture Ravana's immense intellect and commanding stature, Kelkar consciously projected absolute authority in his voice, allowing vulnerability only during a pivotal moment of introspection. “Ravan is a very intelligent, well-read man and he has a command on things. While dubbing, I had to keep in mind that he cannot come across as confused or doubtful. The only scene where he is in doubt is the one where he is talking to his 10 heads wondering if he should go to war or wait? I loved that scene".

Kelkar also praised Yash for always being readily aligned, "Yash is a sweet guy. We had long chats and he would come up with suggestions. He was always striving for the best outcome asking me if I could better some of the scenes. We were all in sync."

Ramayana Cast, Release Details

Propelled by director Nitesh Tiwari, the epic production is a joint venture between Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The film anchors its narrative on a power-packed trio. Ranbir Kapoor steps into the role of the righteous Prince Rama, Sai Pallavi portraying Sita, and charismatic Kannada icon Yash taking on the antagonist Ravana for his Hindi cinema debut. Tiwari co-wrote the adaptation with Shridhar Raghavan.

Rounding out the ambitious cinematic effort is the supporting cast that includes Sunny Deol, Ravie Dubey, Anupam Kher, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, Adinath Kothare, Arun Govil, Indira Krishnan, and Lara Dutta. Ramayana: Part One strikes as one of the most extensive Indian theatrical releases of the year. The multi-lingual blockbuster hit theatres on November 5, across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam markets. The two-part saga is touted as one of India's most expensive productions ever.

The film stomped past the ₹200-crore mark globally in just two days, grossing an estimated ₹221.05 crore worldwide. In India, it has taken a 2-day total to ₹112.90 crore.