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Bond meets Bollywood as 007's classic adventures
are being re-released in Hindi during 2004...
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Bond Meets Bollywood - Hindi Dubbed Releases
2nd January 2004
| The familiar catchphrase "Bond,
James Bond" will have a new twist to it this year,
as globe-trotting agent 007 has been dubbed into Hindi for
the first time. "Mera naam Baand. Jaimes Baand"
will echo around Bollywood during 2004, as the classic films
are being re-released for a new audience.
"The Spy Who Loved
Me" (1977) is the first of the series to get the
treatment, or "Pyar Dushman Se" as it will be
known in India, opening today - January 2nd 2004 in cinemas
across India.
Right: The new posters for "Pyar Dushman Se"
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Fans will not have to wait the usual two year gap between releases however,
as "Sone Ka Khazana" (or 1963's "Goldfinger"
as it is known to most Bond fans) will hit screens in February
2004 - in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The only Bond film to
be set predominantly in India from the 40 year-old series,
"Octopussy" will
be released in May - including Kabir
Bedi, who played Gobinda, dubbing himself in Hindi.
A lot of technology has gone into creating the dubbed
versions whereby Bond’s lips will actually synchronise
with his Hindi dialogue. So, next time Bond says “
Mera naam Bond, James Bond” on screen, it will be
in a language and an accent familiar to the audience.
All the Bond films from "Dr. No" up to an including
"Licence To Kill" will be dubbed and re-released
during 2004. The films, rights bought over from MGM, aims
to tap a large number of Indians who have heard of Ian Fleming's
infamous character, but haven not had access to his adventures
because of the obvious language barrier.
Left: Kabir Bedi will dub himself in the Hindi version
of "Octopussy".
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Ashok Amritraj, Indian tennis legend and brother of Vijay Amritraj
who co-starred with Roger Moore in "Octopussy", acquired
the rights for his production company Ohm Films to re-dub classic
Bond titles in the summer of 2003. Kamal Mohan of Ohm Films
said, "There’s a huge number of dedicated cinema lovers
for whom English is not the first language, 900 million of them,
who will forget they are actually watching a dubbed film 20 minutes
through the film."
Mohan has planned a 6,000-kilometre promotional road trip starting
from Mumbai and traveling across the country to spread the message
of the latest Bond films. He adds, "Our effort is not to
transliterate what's said on screen but remodel the entire feel
and language of the movie. For instance if a scene mentions Bond
going for a Mozart concert, obviously the non-English speaking
audience is going to wonder who is Mozart? So here, Bond goes
to a Bhimsen Joshi show."
The reason for the latest move that involves, besides dubbing,
a whole new ad campaign (called "India Ka Bond") and
restoration of old negatives, might make commercial sense. As
Mohan puts it, the idea germinated with the huge success of the
Hindi version of Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park".
"Indians who have thrived on Bollywood obviously love heroes,
heroines, fast cars and action. That's what a Bond movie is, with
equally grand production qualities. After the theatrical release,
we plan on to enter satellite television and then VCD retails,"
he added.
