Chapter 1

Introduction

Autobiography in the broader sense of the word is used almost synonymously

with life writing and denotes all modes and genres of telling ones own life. More
specifically, autobiography as a literary genre signifies a retrospective narrative that
undertakes to tell the authors own life, or a substantial part of it, seeking to reconstruct
his or her personal development within a given historical, social, and cultural
framework.Writing about the self is a dangerous act, for the act of writing itself is an
act of resistance, or an act of creating a space of ones own. The narrative mode of
modern autobiography as a literary genre, firmly linked to the notion of the individual,
evolved to some extent by propelling the moment of self-recognition towards the
narrative present: only at the end of ones story can it be unfurled from the beginning as
a singular life course, staging the autobiographer as subject.
Swarabhedangal is the autobiography of Bhagyalakshmi, the eminent
dubbing artist who took Malayalm film industry to new heights. Swarabhedangal has
won the Kerala Sahithya Akademi award for the best Autobigraphy. Swarabhedangal is
as much about her career and a documentation of the art of dubbing in Malayalam film
industry as it is an account of her personal life. It tells us the journey of a poor girl who
spent her childhood years in an orphanage to the heights of Malayalam cinema. The
autobiography of Bhagyalekshmi throws light on various avenues and opens up new
vistas of thought. For her, writing is an act of resistance.

Bhagyalakshmi, the lady voice of Malayalam cinema is born on 1 November

1962 to Kumaran Nair who hails from Powaat tharavaadu Calicut and Bhargavi Amma
from Kurupath tharavadu, Shoranur. She has an elder sister Indira Nair and a brother
Unni Nair. She has completed her p .u .c (pre university course) before starting her
career as a dubbing artist. She was married to K. Ramesh Kumar on 27 October 1985.
The couple has two sons Nithin and Sachin. The couple got separated in 2011 and was
officially divorced in September 2014.
Bhagyalakshmi is a leading artist of Malayalam film industry. She won the best
dubbing artist award of kerala state in the year 1991, for the female category. She started
dubbing in 1972 mainly for child characters at the age of 10. Her first movie noted was
Aparadhi in 1977 and became popular by the film Kolilakkam. She has been working
over 35 years, dubbed more than 2000 films for around 170 actresses and also acted
around 20 Malayalam movies.

Swarabhedangal:

Bhagyalakshmi published her autobiography named as Swarabhedhangal. In

her book, she explains, a fearless person by nature, her book too carries the same
fearlessness. When she mentions the perverts of artists she has faced in Malayalam film
fraternity, she even does not forget the kindness of some artists of this glittering world. A
book about her fortunate dubbing career but unfortunate married life, her childhood
orphanage life and love failure after the age of forty. She has secured numerous awards
for her profession and is one of the few people who came to this field when the existence
of such a field was not known to many. She had to remove a lot of thorns to make her life

and in this autobiography she goes into each of her experiences in life. Her father died
when she

was 3 years old and thereafter she had to grow up in an orphanage. Her mother was a
cancer patient and died when she was 6 years old. Thereafter she grew up under the
protection of her mothers elder sister. After this aunts death she had to undergo torture
from her mothers younger sister. Therefore she leaves that house.
Her life does not stop throwing stones at her even then. Her marriage ended up
in divorce with two kids. She falls in love at middle age and loses it later. Life is a series
of ups and downs for this lady. She has emerged from all this and more as a very
independent and successful lady.
Stressing on the hard work put in by artist in the dubbing studio, she explains
that the work in the dubbing studio, she explains that the work in the dubbing studio is
acting itself. She writes,
Dubbing artists werent even treated as artists. We have records showing the
pioneers in various fields in the film industry. But, nobody knows who the first
dubbing artist was. No dubbing artists name featured in the credits of films till
we demanded it. When a film completed 100 days, no dubbing artist was
invited to the celebrations. No awards, no association to take up our cause. And
the sad part was that no dubbing artist complained. Today, people know about
dubbing and the hard work put in by each artist. We now have an association
(FEFKA Dubbing Union) to voice our concerns and problems. And Im happy
that Ive played an important role in bringing about these changes. ( )

Bhagyalekshmi continues,
If you were to ask me what Ive done as a dubbing artist, my answer would be
that I was the one who brought the activities that a heroine did before the
camera into the dubbing studio, she says. She tried it first while dubbing for
Nadia Moidu in Vannu Kandu Keezhadakki. Be it eating, walking, jogging, and
lifting something that is done in the studio itself. If I dont get anything to
eat for a particular scene, I chew paper to get the effect. Dubbing can actually
make or break a character or an actor, something I learned from director Fazil
and Devadas (second recordist) while working in Nokketha Doorathu Kannum
Nattu. ( )
She feels that dubbing has become more easy now. Old Malayalam films had
sync sound because most of the shoots were done inside the studio. But once outdoor
shoots and non-Malayali actors (especially females) came into the picture, dubbing
became a necessity.However, there is a challenge as well. She writes,
Now film makers insist on different voice tones for the actors. That is a good
trend because there was a time when I dubbed for 12 heroines and naturally all
of them sounded the same. Im not good at changing my voice texture and I am
not comfortable in giving voice to teenage characters. But there are artists such
as Anandavalli who has given voice for eight characters in a movie. ( )
Talking about nurturing a new generation of dubbing artists, she says: It is
good that many want to take up dubbing as a profession. Some say I inspire them. But it
took 25 years for me to get an identity, which included my struggle to get recogonised as

an artist. Not all of them are passionate about cinema and only very few are careful about
clarity in diction.
It was never an easy task, though each of the achievements had to be won in
the face of stiff resistance from within the film industry. She writes,
Actors, especially men, feared that if a dubbing artist came into the limelight,
that would badly affect their career. So most of them started dubbing in their
own voice. But the female actors, including those who dubbed in their own
voice, were not bothered much. In the Malayalam film industry, female actors
have been more dependent on dubbing artists than the men. ( )
She points out how jury committees tend to treat a character and his/her voice
as different entities, a reason why the awards for the best actor award and the best
dubbing artist award often go to two different people. Bhagyalakshmi is not just a voice
for many Malayalis. Nor is she the face of dubbing for avid cine viewers. She is much
more than that. She is an inspiration for many women, having braved many a problem in
her personal life and having fought for the rights of dubbing artists in Kerala. With an
illustrious career spanning nearly four decades, the three-time state award winner, takes
pride in that her one-man-rather one-woman, battle has not been in vain.