Rajinikanth Birthday: Meet The Hindi Voice Of Thalaivar Who Snatched The VO Role From Anil Kapoor

Rajinikanth Birthday: The Tamil Superstar has turned 74 on Thursday, December 12. One of the actors to truly go pan-India with their popularity, Rajinikanth symbolises the common person's dream to achieve what they want in life. Many are aware of Shivaji Rao Gaikwad's humble beginnings as a bus conductor in Bengaluru before the legendary Tamil director, the late K Balachander spotted him, christened him Rajinikanth and gave the actor his first break in the hit film Aboorva Ragangal in 1975.

Rajnikanth catapulted to nationwide fame when the Hindi dubbed version of his movies aired on satellite TV and later on YouTube. The voice-over artist, who voiced Rajinikanth's parts in Hindi, became one of the factors behind his success in the Northern belts.

Meet Mayur Vyas, Rajinikanth's Hindi voice      

Mayur Vyas, a teacher by profession, shared in one of his interviews, how the dubbing industry in India was booming in 2001 when he started landing work dubbing for animes on Animax and other animation videos. "2001 was the time when it all started. I was looking for a job that would give me a chance to explore something in the film industry. It was also the time when the dubbing industry was on the rise, especially in animation. Anime was coming to India in a big way due to the launch of the channel Animax. I tried my voicing skills and it worked."

However, for Mayur, working in the entertainment industry came with a fair share of rejection. But he sustained as he got paid even for the roles he got rejected for. "I was comfortable with public speaking since the start and wanted to try something. Some college friends told me about dubbing as I did not know about it. I was rejected initially but I started getting paid even after getting rejected. It started as a hobby before it became my profession," Mayur said.

He would later do voice-over and dubbing in popular shows and movies like Dragon Ball Z, Money Heist, Thor: Love And Thunder, AK Vs AK and many more.  

How Mayur Vyas bested Anil Kapoor to become Rajinikanth's Hindi voice

Mayur Vyas started dubbing for Rajinikanth in Hindi with the 2007 film Sivaji: The Boss. He shared that since S Shankar had directed Anil Kapoor in Nayak: The Real Hero, he wanted the Bollywood actor to dub for Rajinikanth's part in Sivaji. "The makers had dubbed for the whole movie apart from Rajinikanth's part as they did not find a suitable voice. Swanand Kirkire was the writer. Anil Kapoor started with the process but they were not finding the voice on the body and started looking for another voice," Mayur shared.

"I'm thankful that the directors found me. It was a miracle. There was a Hollywood movie in which Rajinikanth sir had done a cameo, a one-scene role. They asked me to dub some scenes for Sivaji. The feedback from Chennai was positive. They said that in terms of attitude and energy, it can be enhanced, but the voice was matching and suitable. That is how the long journey started. I have dubbed 10 movies for him so far," Mayur revealed. 
 

Mayur shared that even though he has dubbed for almost every Rajinikanth movie since 2007's Sivaji: the Boss, he has not met the Superstar even once. About the qualities he would like to embrace from him, Mayur shared, "The style, when he comes on screen, you can't look away. He grabs the attention of people and never lets go. How he captures people's attention with his charisma and style is something I want to imbibe from Rajinikanth Sir. I would also like to imbibe the simplicity he has. I have never met him. He knows there is a voice artist in Mumbai who has been dubbing his movies in Hindi since 2007 from Shivaji The Boss. I have dubbed for almost all the films he has done. He never questioned who was dubbing for me or who was doing this part. He is very encouraging."