Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 3, 2014)

Deepika Padukone had earlier rubbished reports of her voice being dubbed in Chennai Express with a “How mean!” Though her Tamilian twang in the film became a talking point, we hear that the actress’ voice will not be heard in the Rajinikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan.

First we heard that since Deepika is not familiar with Tamil, her voice in the Southern version of the animated film was dubbed by sound artiste Savitha Reddy.

 Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya, who has directed Kochadaiiyaan, had then said, “Savitha was the perfect choice as Deepika’s Tamil voice. Her character has to ooze grace and elegance, along with dramatic prowess and zest, and Savitha is a perfect performer to balance both.”

Now, we hear that Deepika’s voice is unlikely to be heard in the film’s Hindi version too.

Mumbai dubbing artiste, Mona Ghosh Shetty, has spoken for her in the Hindi version. Mona took two days for the dubbing, which was done at an Andheri studio. In the past, Mona has dubbed for Deepika in Om Shanti Om.

Why did the makers decide not to use Deepika’s voice is still a mystery but buzz is that the busy actress just did not have the time for dubbing.

 Deepika and her spokesperson did not revert to our text messages, neither did Sunil Lulla, the head honcho of Eros International, which is producing the film, or his wife Krishika Lulla.