‘I AM LIKE SHINCHAN’
‘If someone calls Shinchan ill-mannered, he’ll still smile and say ‘Ab meri itni bhi tareef mat kro’. He can never see anyone sad even if he creates a mess, he is always a wellwisher. He is carefree and thinks that if anyone is talking about him then it m
Shinchan has been an integral part of every kid’s childhood in the 90’s – coming back from school, gorging on junk food and watching Shinchan, Doraemon and what not on TV. Shinchan and Doraemon were (and for some, still are) their absolute favourite cartoon to binge on in their free time. Those of you who do not know what Shinchan is about – it is a Japanese manga which follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinchan Nohara and his parents, baby sister, dog (shiro), neighbours and friends. The series started airing in India in the year 2006 and is still popular among children. At some point in our life, we have all tried to mimic Shinchan in our own way- from copying his face to his dialogues “Ab main itna bhi acha nahi hu (I am not that good)” were a hit among children and teens alike but the most difficult task was to mimic Shinchan’s notorious voice. Since 2006, there have been 4 voice-over artists behind Shinchan. Akanksha Sharma, the current and official voice of Shinchan talks about her journey from being an RJ to a voice-over artist...
Let’s talk about how you began your career...
My career started in 2013, when there was an RJ hunt going on in Delhi in which they were looking for ‘the hottest RJ in Delhi.’ At the audition, I was just being myself. The judges asked me, “Aapke haal chaal kaise hai?” I said, “haal toh thik hai, chaal main aapko chal kr dikha deti hu...j udge kr lo” and I did that on-stage. Among 20,000 entries, I luckily made it to the top 10 and won, which gave me a chance to host my own Sunday morning show on Radio Mirchi. I have worked with RJ Nawed and helped him with his script ideas of his popular show – ‘Phatto’.
After this, I went back to college to complete my last year, (because I wanted the degree) Papa ke paise lage the (laughs). So, along with college, I did some Radio commercials which also helped in my training for being a voiceover artist – mimicking kid’s voice for Horlicks advertisements and other different voices for various other things on radio. From there, I got the idea of being a voiceover artist. It’s a part-time job actually and I was still in college so I gave it a shot to cover my college expenses and also because I wasn’t serious at that time about a full-time job. After some time, I got to know that Disney studios, UTV is looking for the voice of Shinchan. And I was clueless – who or what Shinchan was, I had no idea about it. But regardless, I gave it a try, they gave me some episodes of the show to listen to, practice and master the voice of Shinchan. I practised for two months but then I got to know that Shinchan is banned and Disney Studios don’t need the voice anymore. I was like, “Why is this happening to me (laughs), I worked so hard.” But once again they were searching for the voice of Shinchan and they knew who was practising (Me! Me!). So there it is... now I am a full-time voiceover artist and at the same time I do anchoring, stage interaction, live audience interaction and many more. Right now, Youtube is the new venture that I am getting into.
It seems strange that being a 90s kid, you had no idea about Shinchan and other cartoons. How?
Paisa, bhuk, aur kya...roti kamane ka jasba (laughs) It’s just that, my cartoon life was never about Japanese cartoons; my cartoon life was all about ‘Aladdin’, ‘Oswald’, ‘Pingu’ and ‘Lizzie Maguire’. These were my kind of cartoons. I loved to watch ‘Flinstones’ and ‘Baloo’ – because how can a bear be a pilot and that too an amazing one with a license and everything! It was very aspiring. I never knew about Shinchan but when I saw it I loved it. I actually discovered it, I had no clue about its existence. It felt like I am sitting in some foreign country and I don’t know who Amitabh Bacchan is. And now... I am Shinchan (laughs). People have even started saying that I resemble Shinchan.
As a kid, have you ever tried to mimic any of your favourite cartoons?
Never! Nothing! I just used to go around and try to get attention- fight with people, break things down. I had no clue that I’ll get into this field. In fact, I had stage fright. In 9th and 10th standard every time I tried to go on stage I just froze. Even now, I get nervous in front of the audience. Everything just went with the flow – RJ hunt, voiceovers and then I was the only girl doing comedy on a live-streaming app called Fame, from there I also got the tag of #comedyqueen and with that I got a huge banner with my photo in Mumbai on Malad Subway.
How many characters have you done voiceover for?
I am the official voice of Shinchan and his friend, Bochan. I give voice to Doraemon’s sister, Dorami. And other than animation, I do the Hindi dub for Discovery shows and WWE female wrestlers. In front of the mic, my voice changes – you have to create an environment, like you are on the WWE stage.
We have heard many voices of Shinchan, which one are you?
It all started with a 13-year-old boy (I am not sure about his age), his name was Akash and he was the first voice of Shinchan, when Shinchan was extremely naughty. Then it was Alka- the second voice. After that, there was a thin voice of Shinchan, which was given by Swasti and after that, I became the fourth and the present voice of Shinchan which has only been dubbed in Delhi. I’ll tell you something, Shinchan is not a cartoon for kids, it’s an adult cartoon. We have to cut out many things from the script according to the scene.
Being a voice-over artist, you can only try to mimic the original voice but apna flavour aata hai in the voice. I practised a lot. In the beginning it took a lot of time for me to dub an episode – I used to say 3-4 lines, pause for some time, then record again. There used to be a time, when I would finish my recording and just lose my voice. But now, I can just talk in Shinchan’s voice for the whole day and it doesn’t even strain.
Is it interesting to be a VO artist?
It’s amazing! You get to be everything through your voice. It’s like acting, the difference is – you don’t have to give screen tests but voice tests. There are pros and cons in every industry. As a voice-over artist, there is no monthly salary – sometimes the salary is based on per episode. It’s a challenging job – you have to sync your voice and tone with the lip movement of a character – that takes patience and practice. You have to embody someone else to speak like someone else. I feel fortunate because now I can become a wrestler, a cartoon character, a doctor or an engineer anytime I want.
Do you believe in the supposedly true story about Shinchan that’s making rounds on social media?
It’s a very beautifully designed story. It is emotional, catchy and connecting. It sounds really sad and it’s getting all the limelight. But we have no such records. This is a Japanese anime, a person from Delhi went to Japan and came back with Shinchan DVDS because he thought it will be a unique cartoon for the Indian audience and the fact is, Shinchan is not even aired on Japanese television anymore because they have come up with new cartoons. So, honestly I have no idea about the last episode since there are numerous episodes.
Do you want to continue with Shinchan?
Why not? It’s something that’s given me so much limelight and love of the audience. I am getting the chance to bring smiles to so many people’s face. And I believe that I got this character because in some ways I am like Shinchan – I am fun, happy in my own world.
What do you like the most about Shinchan?
He doesn’t care what anyone says about him. If someone calls him ill-mannered, he’ll still smile and say ab meri itni bhi tareef mat kro (Don’t praise me that much). Everything is good for him and he wants everyone to eat capsicum but not him. The thing I like most about him is that he is always himself.
He can never see anyone sad even if he creates a mess, he is always a wellwisher. He is carefree and thinks that if anyone is talking about him then it must be something good.