Kabir Bedi dubs in Hindi for Sir Ben Kingsley

Kabir Bedi is one of the few people who saw Disney’s latest offering Prince of Persia — The Sands of Time, that reached theatres on May 28, long before its release. The film is an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia, with a rogue prince reluctantly joining forces with a mysterious princess and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time — a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world. The rogue prince is Jake Gyllenhaal, of Brokeback Mountain fame.

That is who Kabir Bedi is up against. Bedi, in the Hindi version of the film, is the voice of the Nizam, the predominant antagonist, who can do anything for power.

“It’s a very good film, takes you to another time and place. All Disney films have a mythic quality. Here you have people fighting for the glory of Persia,” says Bedi.

The Nizam’s character, Bedi says, is highly intelligent. But what gives him a greater kick is the fact that the role is played by a “master craftsman” like Sir Ben Kingsley.

Ben Kingsley, Jake Gyllenhaal and Richard Coyle in Prince of Persia — The Sands of Time

“This is the first time I was dubbing for another character in a Hollywood film. Dubbing is an enormously complex art where one has to try to recapture the emotions of a moment lived by another person. It is a challenge to keep up to that performance level. Unlike in a live action situation where a co-actor gives the cue, in a dubbing studio one takes the cue from the actor on screen.”

The other challenge is to fit the words, the facial expressions and the actions of the character while speaking in a different language. “Leela Ghosh, the queen of dubbing in India, supervised it all, taking a call on what to reduce or increase to sync with the lip movement. Yes, it is a slow process.”

In Kites, where Bedi played Kangana’s father and Hrithik’s would-be father-in-law, he had to dub his own lines for the English version. “It is easier to dub when one has acted oneself. And I love doing voiceovers, ever since my advertising days in Ogilvy & Mather and Lintas.”

It is a coincidence that Kingsley, who he gives voice to, is a friend and of Indian descent. “His original name is Krishna Bhanji, which he later changed to Ben Kingsley.”

Does he have any regrets at not having done the same? “In India, I was known as Kabir Bedi. And by the time I reached Hollywood, after the success of Sandokan I was too well-known by this name to change it,” he says, looking back to the time in the late 70s when he was famous in Europe for playing the title role of a late 19th century pirate in the TV mini-series. “It is possible that if I changed my name things would have been different but I am happy with what I have achieved internationally,” says the handsome hunk who acted in the Bond thriller Octopussy and played a lengthy part in The Bold & The Beautiful.

He expresses surprise that “dubbing took so long to come to India”. “Italy has dubbing stars who are paid highly. It is a whole new industry.” Prince of Persia — The Sands of Time has been dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as well. “Now that Hollywood has tasted success, more English films would be dubbed in Indian languages,” he smiles, packing his bags for an Urdu poetry-reading session in Hyderabad before heading off to Goa to celebrate daughter Pooja’s birthday.

One may get to hear him in Prince of Persia — The Sands of Time, but when does one get to see him again on screen? Wait for Dunno Y...Na Jaane Kyun where he has paired with Zeenat Aman and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s film with Govinda.