VISAKHAPATNAM: From an actor to a dubbing artiste, Praveen Chakravarthy says he has forayed into the film world by chance but eventually fell in love with it.
After playing lead roles in ‘Sajeeva Murthulu’ in 1985 and ‘Vooru Manadira’ in 2002, Praveen was not disappointed over his inability to grab meaty roles any longer. Instead he started working on his strengths.
With a gifted voice that sounds like Pradeep Rawat, Arjun, Madhavan and Prakash Raj, he shifted gears and stepped into the dubbing world. “My voice was first identified by Priya Karthik, actor Saikumar’s sister. She spoke to her brother about me and that’s how I entered the field,” shares the artiste.
A Kuchipudi dancer, a music composer and a singer, Praveen has so far lent his voice to actors in 1,200-plus Telugu and a few Tamil movies. Born in Vizianagaram and brought up in Visakhapatnam, the artiste now stays in Chennai. Ask him to talk like Prakash Raj, he instantly adjusts his tone and delivers a dialogue. “A dubbing artiste should always try to understand the actor’s body language and try to get into the character spontaneously. Right timing and delivering the dialogues emotionally are some of the key elements that a dubbing artiste should keep in mind,” says Praveen, who came to the city to organise an event.
The artiste was conferred the title ‘Kuralselvam’ by the South Indian Cine, TV Artists and Dubbing Artists Union for his contribution to the film world. At present, Praveen is in the process of canning a Telugu video album that portrays the evolution of music, Telugu culture and tradition. “While this video titled ‘Teney’ is scheduled to be released in January, another album on ‘Real Love’ is getting ready for Valentine’s Day,” he adds.
