Showing posts with label Money Heist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money Heist. Show all posts
When I voiced Adam Sandler, Michael Fassbender or The Professor in Money Heist, my voice remains mine-Ashwin Mushran
5:07 PM
Actor and voice artist Ashwin Mushran pulls back the curtain on dubbing blockbusters, studio politics, and surviving off-script pressures
MUMBAI MIRROR (August 8, 2026)
The truth is I rarely get a script before I walk into a dubbing studio. There may be a phone call a few days earlier asking whether I am available, and that is about it. I enter, glance at the script, watch the first scene and begin to understand the character as I perform. You have to adapt immediately.
If you are new, you will probably test for every part. After years in the business, studios know what your voice can do. Sometimes they call because they can already hear you as that character. I never expected any of this. I always knew I would become an actor. Voice work happened by accident after I returned from Drama Studio London. Commercials and corporate narrations kept coming, the money became substantial, and it became a parallel profession — as important as acting.
Inside the booth
Unlike sets, a dubbing room is surprisingly solitary. It is usually me with the mic, while the dubbing director and two audio engineers sit in the engineering room. We discuss interpretations and sometimes disagree. Ultimately, the director has the final say for good reason. As voice actors, we rarely watch the film or series. We see our sections. The director has the full picture.
What many get wrong about dubbing is that a voice actor must imitate the actors. Not true. When I voiced Adam Sandler, Michael Fassbender or The Professor in Money Heist, my voice remains mine. What matters is whether it belongs convincingly to the face on screen.
I have to match emotion, rhythm, breath and, crucially, time. A line has only so many seconds available. Yet I can add an inflection, a sigh or a small sound that strengthens the performance.
A voice as a character
Voice actors have one freedom screen actors often lack. Our faces do not restrict us. I can use a deeper or higher voice, and animation expands that range further.
I once got called to voice a Spider-Man trailer for Doctor Strange because Mohan Kapur, the actor who usually voiced him was abroad. I messaged him to explain that I was only doing the trailer and hoped he would return for the film. I did not want to take his character. Then there is The Professor. After 48 episodes of Money Heist, I felt I knew him inside out. I suspect Indian audiences would find another voice on him strange.
A changing business
Streaming transformed the business. Shows now appear in several languages, which has created work for established artists and opened doors for new ones. Sacred Games, for which I dubbed Saif Ali Khan’s character in English, was an early example. There is also far more training available. Most of the big dubbing studios run programmes, there are excellent independent voice coaches, and much of it is accessible online. When I started, none of that existed. I learnt on the job, session by session. Today, I’m a voice and body language coach myself and run a programme called Million Dollar Presence.
AI poses a different question. Early synthetic voices were easy to identify. They are becoming alarmingly good. A lot of the middle-tier voice work we once did has already disappeared because some brands ask why they should pay an artist when they can generate a voice themselves. Emotion does not always matter to them. They simply need a voiceover.
Dubbing will take longer, but I can see AI entering that space. I suspect human voices will be licensed because the technology still needs them. The crucial question is whether performers will be paid and protected. In India, adequate safeguards for actors’ voices remain a concern. Someone does not need my face or even my presence to reproduce what I do.
After more than 20 years, the profession has also ruined television for me. After years behind a mic, you can hear what has been done well, and what hasn’t. In the studio, if a breath hits wrongly, there is a click or an odd sound — I will take the line again. Because the audience may never spot the difference. But I will.
We don’t try to water the content down. We want the world to know their stories-Bela Bajaria
8:34 AM
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Head of Global TV, gets candid about content, competition and creative storytelling
Sonal Kalra (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 1, 2022)
Among the world’s most powerful media executives, Netflix’s global content head, Bela Bajaria, was recently in India, and much in the news for meeting talent in and outside the company’s content slate. In a frank chat, she fields questions — on the streaming platform’s recent performance and the constant advice she gets from everyone around her.
You’ve been in India meeting a lot of entertainment industry folks. On a scale of 10, how much advice are you getting on how to run Netflix content?
(Laughs) I’d say it varies between 8-10. I also have a large extended Indian family in Los Angeles, and I get a lot of opinions all the time. But I can see that it comes from being excited when they see a new show or a film on Netflix, and that starts to come up a lot in conversations. When The Fame Game released, a lot of people in my personal life started talking about how much they loved it.
Netflix’s recent quarterly results showed a loss of 2 million subscribers. It made big news everywhere, including India. From a content lens, has this led to a rethink in strategy to come out of the tricky patch?
Many people inside the media business, and even those outside of it, have come up with theories about what strategy we should adopt. What I love about it is how personally and passionately connected they feel towards the brand. People usually have more input on a business that they feel a sense of personal ownership with. There are several factors that determine subscribers, engagement or revenue, but for us, it’s always much more about the content that we show.
What is your India visit in connection with? Is it a fallout of the recent quarterly results?
Not at all. My visit is to connect with India because India is a very important market for us. It is to understand the content needs of the Indian audience. We have a large base of very talented content creators and on-screen talent in India who I wanted to have a personal connection with. The last time I met with people here was two years ago, before Covid-19 struck. So the visit was overdue. As for the success of the business, as I said, it is determined by several factors. But remember that this company is not in any other business. This is all we do. Making great shows and great films… That’ll always be the core.
In post-pandemic times, the audience suddenly has a lot more to choose from, with several streaming players in the market, in addition to theatrical releases. Would Netflix look at a strategy of fewer shows or lesser episodes, etc. to focus on the quality of content?
No. For me, the number of episodes per season of any show — globally — is determined solely by the creative diktat. At Netflix, we have flexibility when it comes to the number of episodes as well as the duration of each. One episode could be 42 minutes, the other could be 55. We go by what is the natural way to tell a story. The idea is to serve the audience whatever they are in the mood to watch. If you want comedy, there’s Kapil Sharma’s show. If the mood is to watch an intense emotional drama, there’s Mai. So at any point, our aim is to super-serve the audience.
There is a perception that if a producer gets signed by Netflix, they will face no limits to the cost of making a show or a film. Have you ever received feedback that your shows could be over budgeted as compared to platforms that stay tighter on costs? Reports suggest that the per episode cost of the new season of Stranger Things is $30 million.
While deciding on budgets, the idea is to have the best production quality, and to be able to realise the creator’s vision correctly on screen, for the craft to come out at its best. But that being said, everything is the right size for what it should be. The ultimate objective is local storytelling on a global platform. As an Indian-American growing up in the USA, I never saw myself on-screen. No one on TV ever looked like me. Therefore, I am very conscious of representation. We need to give an opportunity to local storytellers and local actors to get a platform. We want to tell authentic local stories, not international stories. If they are good, they become international on their own. As for Stranger Things, my work is not even remotely connected to the budget, so I won’t know the cost, but do remember that it involved production in several countries during Coronavirus. So the scope and scale would obviously be enormous as compared to smaller dramas. In India, we just launched Thar with Anil Kapoor. That has a scale of its own. There’s no set rule for costs.
Different countries have different content regulations and a varied socio-political atmosphere. Is that a concern while green-lighting content? Do you have an international rulebook for selecting original content?
No, there is no rulebook at all. We have local offices in 26 countries, and the programming teams in each are people who are from that country, speak the language, understand the culture and the sensitivities. They are the ones who make the decisions to green-light their respective projects. We have an organisational culture of giving them the autonomy to do that. We don’t make the content go through any prisms or try to water it down. We want the world to know their stories. It’s Hollywood that has been exporting stories to the world all these years. Now we want the local creative communities to export their stories. It’s also because now there’s great access to world content. You can switch from Squid Game to Gangubai Kathiawadi to Bridgerton with just a click. That’s like getting the world in one place. I recently met a producer from the South of India who told me that his daughter is learning Korean only to watch K-shows! Also, the fact that we shoot our shows at locations in various countries gives a window into promoting tourism for that place. The number of people who travelled to Madrid after watching Money Heist or to Paris after Emily In Paris or Lupin was extraordinary. It’s amazing.
With competing platforms showing niche content, right from reality shows to popular sports events, how do you plan to focus your content strategy?
We did Formula 1: Drive To Survive and Last Chance U, and they did exceptionally well. The shows made a lot of people get interested in the respective sports. But we did those also, with storytelling weaved into the script because that’s our way. As for competition, sometimes just looking over your shoulder can distract you from moving forward. Competition is great for consumers to have choice, but our focus is clearly on being the best place for talent to work with.
Is there likely to be a change from binge-format to appointment viewing, in terms of all episodes of a show not dropping at the same time?
So far, our proposition has been to present all episodes of a season at once. I feel it gives choice to the consumer to decide when and how much to watch at a time. By and large, our audiences have loved it. But it again depends on the individual shows and how the creators design them. Money Heist had two drops of five episodes, and it worked. There is no hard and fast rule about it.
Being the first woman of colour to lead the global content of a studio, how has it shaped your views on gender representation?
I realised while growing up that it’s important to have the power of seeing yourself on screen. I never had that power. When I have it now, I realise it’s not just about you, it’s about the multi-dimensional aspect of gender that you think should get this visibility. It’s not to see women on screen in different roles, it is also about giving that power to women behind the camera. I feel the area of storytelling has the potential to do both. It can show women that their existence is not just in relation to the man in their life. Or that they don’t have to necessarily be likeable all the time. There’s more to them. That’s the real power we want to show. If they can see it, they can be it.
OTT platforms lean towards the linear way
8:11 AM
Instead of a season dump, a number of shows have been opting for weekly episode releases on OTT platforms lately. We delve deeper into this rising trend
Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 29, 2021)
At a time when binge-watching shows has become the norm on streaming platforms, some players have been experimenting with the linear release format and opting for weekly episodes. This trend seems to be growing, especially since last year.
The popular Spanish series Money Heist is the latest to join the trend and release the final season in two volumes. Several web shows like Out Of Love season 2, Aspirants, WandaVision, and The Mandalorian also kept audiences on tenterhooks with weekly drops.
What clicks with the audience
Talking about why this trend is growing, the spokesperson of Disney+ Hotstar explains, “While binge-watching has its advocates who prefer a thrilling start-to-finish journey, weekly episodic releases keep the conversations around a show going for longer. It gives viewers a chance to discuss the story and its nuances, share theories and speculate about potential arcs. It becomes a ritual for the fans.” The platform’s latest release, Mare Of Easttown, created a stir with weekly episodes.
The spokesperson adds, “We like using both models as they work well. Our international shows like WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and original series Out Of Love (S2) benefited from a weekly drop, whereas others like Special Ops and November Story were binge-watched. We will continue to try new and innovative formats of dropping content.”
According to Vijay Koshy, president and business head, TVF, the success of either of the release models depends on a lot of factors. “Market maturity is a factor, as OTTs in developed markets regularly do weekly releases, like Game Of Thrones and Lupin. Studio name also matters. HBO, Disney, etc. have a cult following and their audience lap their releases either way. And lastly, genre. A thriller/crime content tends to have the binge approach. But in developing markets like ours, it’s critical for platforms to ensure the audience watches the show after sampling the initial episodes, so nine out of 10 opt for binge drop.”
Long-term feasibility?
Will the trend gain any momentum? Manish Kalra, chief business officer, ZEE5 India, admits that while they tried the episodic route with their hit Abhay starring Kunal Kemmu, fans kept pushing for all episodes at once. He adds, “Last year, given the pandemic, some shows were released weekly/fortnightly. While this is an interesting trend, it will probably not stay for long. They create intrigue, but might not satiate the consumer’s curiosity.”
Relish the slow burn
Actor Rasika Dugal, who starred in Out Of Love, reveals that weekly episodes made her peers and audiences impatient. She says, “My social media was flooded with comments saying ‘why weekly’, ‘where is the next episode’. But over the weeks, I think, some got used to it. Some friends and fans, however, refused to watch till all five episodes were out.”
Could weekly drops also be a tactic to spread the available content amid the Covid-era OTT boom? Koshy disagrees, “That strategy is unlikely to work on any subscription video on demand platform. Episodic releases in India, at best, work for shows that have a brand partner and YouTube as a platform, like the shows produced by TVF, such as Aspirants and Kota Factory. The two reasons here are the audience buildup and the brand requirement to sustain a long campaign.”
I guess the year 2020 will be a skip, and blur in our calendars-Kriti Sanon
8:21 AM
Kriti Sanon is missing work, but feels she is ‘extremely privileged’ to ‘have the basics sorted’
Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 29, 2020)
For someone who starred in four back-to-back films (and two special appearances) last year, it’s anything but natural to miss work during this lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. And actor Kriti Sanon readily admits the same. “For the first few days, I was chilling, but now, I’m missing work badly. It feels like time is just passing by but people aren’t living their lives,” she says.
The actor admits she “had a lot of hopes”, and was “very excited” about 2020 in terms of doing “some fab work”. “But I guess this year will be a skip, and blur in our calendars,” she says, adding that “none of us were prepared for this”. “But when I see/hear about what so many people are going through, I feel really privileged and thankful to have a house and my family around,” she says.
Still, for the 29-year-old, the “panic mode” is constantly on since her mother has asthma, and she worries even when her father and sister (Nupur Sanon) go out to buy groceries. “But the idea is to keep clam and tell yourself that, ‘it’ll all be over soon’. I’m utilising this time by spending it with my family. Work-wise, I had finished work on Mimi, so nothing was incomplete,” she says, adding that she has been busy baking and cooking”. “All of us [in our family] take turns to cook different cuisines,” she says.
Sanon, who is “not much of a reader”, has also started to read. “I’ve read Ikigai, and now, I’m reading The Kite Runner. I’m also watching shows/films which I missed out on earlier, such as How To Get Away with Murder, The Stranger, Money Heist, Shutter Island and Bala (2019),” she says.
Does the actor feel like there a silver lining in all of it? “For starters, the city is much calmer and clearer. So, it’s like nature has pressed the pause button and is rejuvenating itself. Sadly, it’s resulting in loss of lives,” she says, adding that the first thing she’ll do when things get ‘normal’ is “go out on a long drive with friends or just chill at a friend’s place”. “As for film-related work, it’ll be a while before things become normal,” she concludes.
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No domestic violence!
On Tuesday, Kriti posted a video and a poem titled Abused, highlighting the domestic violence. “I was shocked to read online that there has been a 35-40% rise in domestic violence cases during lockdown,” she says, adding that it reminded her of a poem that she wrote in standard 11. “I remember our house-help cried in front of mum and said that her husband would beat her. So, I wrote a poem imagining what she must be feeling. No one has the right to hit you, and women should be brave to take the right step. It needs to be spoken about. Even if this poem encourages one person, I will be happy,” she says.
Fenil's Bollywood Talk # 618
10:25 AM
OTT PLATFORMS, TELEVISION WITNESS A SPIKE IN VIEWERSHIP
Film is a powerful medium and is widely consumed by people across the country. A major chunk of this population regularly watches movies in cinemas. Sadly, theatres have been shut since more than a month due to lockdown and amid rising Coronavirus cases. Most of the people are locked up in their homes and to tide over their boredom, they have started watching more of television and OTT. As a result, their ratings have increased substantially.
Talking of television, the shoots have come to a halt because of obvious reasons. The channels have therefore started to air old episodes of popular daily soaps. Yet, they are getting good viewership. Meanwhile, a masterstroke was pulled off with the decision to have the re-run of successful mythological shows like Ramayan and Mahabharat. These were aired on Doordarshan, just the way it was done in the late 80s. The response was mind-blowing. Doordarshan emerged as one of the top channels in terms of viewership, which has not happened in a long time. Their other shows like Buniyaad, Shrimaan Shrimati etc too have made a comeback and have been lapped up.
Meanwhile, the movie screenings too have recorded an increase in viewings. Last year’s biggest hit War had its television premiere during lockdown and got a huge 2 crore impressions approx, one of the highest ever. The other films like Housefull 4, Total Dhamaal, Pati Patni Aur Woh etc too are doing very well, more so because of the lockdown.
As for OTT, it too has taken advantage. The subscribers of almost all streaming platforms have increased. Some popular series released new seasons of their shows like Money Heist, Four More Shots Please etc and the response has been very encouraging. Also, viewers have been discovering many more shows and movies which they previously missed because of lack of time. Amusingly, a 2011 film, titled Contagion, became one of the most watched films worldwide. It tells the story of a disease that goes out of control and is eerily similar to the current Coronavirus pandemic.
The lockdown or rather the restrictions are expected to go on till a long time. And if you feel, OTT and TV channels will continue to benefit, then you might be mistaken. There’s a fear that viewers will soon reach a saturation point and might move away from these mediums. At a webinar recently, a speaker remarked that many have consumed the material that they would have otherwise consumed in 3 years in just 3 months! Also, OTT platforms, after a point, won’t have anything new to offer as their productions have halted as well. So a few months down the line, they too will feel the pinch as they’ll struggle to bring out new content. There’s similar fear about re-runs of TV shows as well.
Ultimately, the hope is that the curve gets flattened soon and things get back to normal.
I haven't watched Money Heist-Ajay Jethi
8:40 AM
We track down the man of the moment, Ajay Jethi, who has got everyone talking about his hacker act in the latest season of Money Heist, to Spain
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 19, 2020)
Who would have thought that an Indian actor, playing a Pakistani hacker in a Spanish show, would grab eyeballs at a time when the world is under lockdown? Actor Ajay Jethi, who plays Shakir in the fourth season of the much loved Money Heist, is as surprised as he is elated to find the spotlight on him. We tracked down the man of the moment, Jethi—who has got everyone talking about his hacker act in Money Heist—in Spain, he throws a curveball as he candidly mentions, "I don't have a TV, so I haven't watched the show. But, a friend recently told me that I could watch it on my phone. So, I have downloaded Netflix and hope to catch it soon."Essaying the role of a professional hacker who helps the Professor in his mission, the actor shot for the thriller late last year. "I thought it's a Spanish show; I had no idea it would be available in English subtitles and screened worldwide. On April 4 [when the latest season dropped online], I woke up to countless messages from Indians and Pakistanis all over the world. That's when I understood the wide reach of the series."
Ask him how he landed the role, and Jethi says he had previously collaborated with creator Alex Pina on a Warner Bros movie. "The production house and casting directors were familiar with my work. So, they didn't ask me to audition for the role. I shot for my portions alone, and didn't get a chance to meet the rest of the cast."
Now that viewers have taken notice, Jethi hopes his next casting call comes from Bollywood. Interestingly, he is a distributor of Hindi and Punjabi films in Spain and Portugal. "I distributed Kesari, Bharat, War and Dabangg 3. I have a long-standing association with Yash Raj Films and Zee Studios. I have done a few Punjabi movies, but now, I want to explore Hindi cinema. Apne mulk mein kaam karne ka waqt aa gaya hai."
Shah Rukh Khan to adapt Spanish series Money Heist into a Hindi film?
8:34 AM
The actor to adapt the series into a Hindi film; scripting underway
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 3, 2019)
Since the release of Zero during the Christmas weekend last year, there have been speculations about Shah Rukh Khan’s next. When Mirror (December 12, 2018) had quizzed him about the Rakesh Sharma biopic Saare Jahan Se Achcha and a film with Sanjay Leela Bhansali co-starring Salman Khan, he had informed that apart from these two, there were six other films that he had heard, some of which had struck him as exciting. SRK was quick to add that while he’d love to do Saare Jahan Se Achcha and work with SLB again, he had spoken with Aanand L Rai about another film, and would take a call on his next project only after the release of Zero. It’s been seven months since and the actor has not announced any new film despite persistent rumours about Don 3 and collaborations with SLB, Rajkumar Hirani, Madhur Bhandarkar and Aditya Chopra.“I have no film with me right now. I am not working on any film. Usually, what happens is when your one film is coming to an end, you begin work on your next film and then you get involved with the new one within three-four months. But this time, I am just not feeling (like doing that). My heart doesn’t allow me to… So, I want to spend more time with my family,” Shah Rukh was quoted as saying recently.
However, Mirror has now learnt that his production house has bagged the rights of the Spanish show, Money Heist, which is currently in its third season. “Shah Rukh Khan was introduced to Money Heist by one of his partners. He loves the show and believes it can be adapted in the Indian context as a feature film,” revealed a source close to the development.
Money Heist revolves around a mysterious man who calls himself “The Professor” and recruits eight career criminals. In an abandoned house, he trains them for five months to steal 2.4 billion Euros from a bank. The team is required to grab not the money in the vault but lock themselves in the bank with the hostages for 11 days and print the money. The Professor monitors the heist from outside, manipulating and misleading the police.
A team of writers is currently working on developing the script of SRK’s film. “There is no clarity on Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement as an actor. At this point of time, he is only producing it,” the source informed, adding that the cast will be decided based on the script. “SRK has always been open to involving other actors in his production ventures.”
Shah Rukh’s recent production, the Sujoy Ghosh directorial, Badla, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Amrita Singh, was also a remake of a Spanish thriller, Invisible Guest, adapted to Indian sensibilities, and made a killing at the box-office.
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