Nani yaad aa gayi!

Sharad Kelkar

It is not uncommon for voice-over artistes to turn to characters, either real or reel, when searching for inspiration for their narratives. But not many would assume that a desi nani or dadi could be a role model for an artiste lending his voice to Marvel's mutant, Wolverine. For Sharad Kelkar, however, being the voice of the character for the Hindi adaptation of the production house's audio series Westlander, took him back to his childhood.

"If you recall, there were simple stories that our dadi or nani would tell us. But, when the same story was narrated by a different person, it would seem different. My idea was to narrate it the way my dadi and nani would. When you work on an audio book, you need to think of telling the story to a 10-year-old kid. If he can understand it, everyone can understand it," says the actor, who is part of the podcast that is an interconnected series of six stories, featuring voices of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Masaba Gupta.

Not new to the world of voice acting, Kelkar says he chooses to be part of projects that permit actors to be creative with their craft. "While we normally simply dub film, we should choose to voice-act instead. But, in this series, with such brilliant actors, we try to voice-act, because dubbing sounds odd."

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Having commenced his career in the industry almost two decades ago, he looks back at his stints on camera without fondness. "I am aware that people found [my work to be poor]. A lot of people have told me that. Whenever an old series of mine is telecast again, I immediately turn the TV off. The only thing which is constant is my will to learn. I love to work, and try to make the most of every day. Today, the stories that I get to be part of are more human, relevant, and inspiring."