Malayalam movie director Fazil finally gave due credit to Tamil dubbing artist Durga Sundararajan for giving voice to the iconic character of ‘Nagavalli’ in his classic flick Manichitrathazhu which was released in 1993.
By recognising Durga’s contribution in giving life to the voice of ‘Nagavalli’ which was enacted by actress Shobhana on silver screens, Fazil thus knocked down years old myth about the dubbing artist. Shobhana’s character exhibited a mental state of ‘split personality disorder’ in Manichitrathazhu. Nagavalli’s dialogue – ‘Vidamatte?’ and accentuated delivery style is quite a hit even now.
Durga Sundararajan and Shobhana as Nagavalli in Manchitrathazhu Image courtesy: The News Minute
Fazil revealed details about the dubbing artist in a recent article which appeared in the magazine – Manorama weekly. It was popularly believed that dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi from Malayalam movie industry had given voice over to ‘Nagavalli’. Bhagyalakshmi faced criticism of Malayalam movie audience after Fazil revealed the details.
Bhagyalakshmi Image courtesy: Facebook
“I have not received any awards in that regard and hence I do not find a need to feel guilty or ashamed. The makers of the film have given credits to its dubbing artists and I don’t understand why Durga’s name was omitted,” Bhagyalakshmi told Manorama news.
Initially, Bhagyalakshmi had given voice for Shobhana’s characters – Nagavalli and Ganga. But later when makers of the movie noticed a similarity in the voices of Nagavalli and Ganga, which were both enacted by Shobhana in the movie, Bhagyalakshmi was replaced by Durga for to dub voice for Nagavalli.
It is said that Fazil did not give credit to Durga in the movie’s title as she gave voice over only after titles were created. Reportedly, it was a tedious task in those days to recreate or make changes in the titles.
