Punjabi Kudiyan learn South languages fast

Bangalore, May.12: Punjabi Kudiyan who are making their mark in the regional film industries are the fastest learners of Dravidian languages and many of them dub in their own voices.

Take the case of Pooja Gandhi who was introduced to the Kannada film industry twenty eight months ago. Her first Kannada film 'Mungaru Male' released on 29th December 2006 became one of the biggest block busters of the Kannada film industry which capitulated her to the top. Earlier Pooja Gandhi had worked in a Tamil film Khokki which did not click with the audience. But Mungaru Male brought in a big change in Pooja Gandhi's life and within two years of her stint in Kannada films, her entire family had migrated to Bangalore including her father who was having some business interests in Delhi.

Pooja Gandhi now speaks authoritatively in Kannada and has dubbed her own voice in forthcoming film 'Ninagaagi Kaadiruve' which has been directed by stunt director Jolly Bostin.

Pooja Gandhi is so busy in Kannada films these days, that she is still to find time to dub for her film 'Iniya' in which she is paired with Balaji and directed by Mahesh.

Pooja makes efforts to speak in Kannada in all the promotional programmes of her films. She also signs the Autograph books of her fans in Kannada. Her popularity in the Kannada film industry is also due to her keen interest in learning and speaking in Kannada.

"I decided to learn Kannada language after I signed my third Kannada film. I was shooting for a film titled 'Hani Hani' directed by Sharan. Sharan would speak to me in Kannada and all the unit members were also talking in Kannada. I begged a unit boy to teach me writing in Kannada. He first taught me to write my signature. And then I started talking in Kannada with all the unit members, producers and directors. I showed lot of passion in learning Kannada. Even the response was very good," says Pooja Gandhi.

It may look a little odd, but the fact is that most of the heroines from the Kannada film industry who hail from Bangalore speak in English in the interviews, but Pooja Gandhi deliberately makes it a point to speak in Kannada.

Charmmee and Bhoomika Chawla are also Punjabis who have made their mark in the Telugu film industry. Though both of them are working in Tamil films as well, it is the Telugu film industry which is providing lot of acting opportunities to these two artists. Bhoomika Chawla has also acted in a few Hindi films like 'Tera Naam' with Salman Khan and 'Run' with Abhishekh Bachchan. Both Charmmee and Bhoomika are dubbing in their own voice for their Telugu films. Charmmee is so much liked by the Telugu audience that she is being affectionately called as Andhra Mirchee. Many Telugu film producers feel that Charmmee who was introduced to the Telugu film industry as a teenager five years ago has a sweet voice. Bhoomika has been dubbing for her Telugu films for the past one year.

The South Indian girls like Thrisha, Nayantara, Sheela, Navya Nair and Meera Jasmine who are now working in Tamil and Telugu films are yet to dub their voices in those languages. Though Thrisha is a Tamilian, her voice has not been used for any Tamil film. Nayantara, Meera Jasmine, Sheela and Navya Nair have all worked in Malayalam films before they were drafted for Tamil and Telugu films. But they are yet to dub their voices in any South Indian languages.

"Though Nayantara, Meera Jasmine and Sheela work in Telugu films and they speak in Telugu fluently we will not be using their voice mainly because they have a Malayalam accent while speaking in Telugu. This will not be accepted by the Telugu film audience," says a well known Telugu film director.

Anushka is certainly the number one heroine of the Telugu film industry who has delivered such blockbusters like Arundathi and Billa recently. But this Bangalore based Yoga teacher is still to dub her voice in any Telugu film. But Charmmee who made a debut in the Telugu film industry around the same time when Anushka started working in the same industry has dubbed her voice since the last one year. Punjabi girls are showing lot of interest in learning the Telugu language more than any other heroine hailing from South.