Those who have watched the Hindi version of Salaar: Part 1—Ceasefire will immediately recognize the deep baritone of Sharad Kelkar, who dubbed for leading man Prabhas. Over the years, Kelkar has become one of the most dependable voice actors, in addition to his on-screen work. But he is now consciously steering away from dubbing. Reason—acting.

“I haven’t dubbed for a Hollywood film for ages. I want to concentrate on my acting career. I want people to notice my acting skills over my voice. Acting is my main profession and passion,” he explains.

However, the actor has made an exception for The Legend Of Hanuman. Kelkar, who has lent his voice to the character of Raavan in the third season of the Disney+ Hotstar offering, attributes it to the show’s writing.

“Sharad Devarajan and Jeevan J Kang of Graphic India [production house] have created Raavan’s character so differently that I was drawn to it. The dubbing was done before, and the animation was created on it. So, I had the liberty to present Raavan the way I wanted to. The characterization is so in-depth. We didn’t steer away from his known physical attributes. But at the same time, he is shown to have a soft corner, be friendly and emotional.”

As he moves into 2024, Kelkar is looking forward to Indian Police Force and his Tamil sci-fi film, Ayalaan. “Indian Police Force is a Rohit Shetty show, that too, set in the cop universe. So, it has to match the films he has made, from the Singham franchise to Sooryavanshi [2021]. Ayalaan marks my Tamil debut and is big on VFX.”