Ramayana: Rise of a Legend hits Rs 200 cr; Kelkar on Yash dub

How Kelkar landed the Hindi voice of Ravana

When Ramayana: Rise of a Legend needed a Hindi voice for Yash’s Ravana, the team turned to Sharad Kelkar. Speaking to Variety India, Kelkar said director Nitesh Tiwari and the film’s core team made the call, and a friendly connection with Prime Focus’ Niraj Sanghai helped set the collaboration in motion. Kelkar had told Tiwari at an earlier meeting that he wanted to work with him; this mythological project finally brought them together.

Ravana’s rise gets the longer arc

Kelkar said Tiwari shaped the story around Ravana’s journey from origins to antagonist. Audiences have seen Lord Ram’s childhood, but Ravana’s past—where he came from and what happened to him—gets far more attention in this telling. “Ravan’s life is shown in a much extended manner than scenes from Ayodhya,” Kelkar told Variety India.

That structure changes what the Hindi dub has to carry. Ravana is not a one-note villain; the voice has to track a character being built across a long rise.

Why dubbing Yash wasn’t easy

Yash impressed Kelkar, but matching his Hindi voice was not straightforward. The actor speaks Hindi well, yet his Kannada-speaking background affects his accent and the rhythm of his Hindi lines. The team felt a separate Hindi voice would serve the character better. Kelkar said, “Dubbing for him was not at all easy,” even as he praised Yash’s Kannada performance and his voice.

During the process, Yash stayed involved. The two had long chats, and Yash offered suggestions and asked Kelkar to improve scenes. “We were all in sync,” Kelkar said.

The scenes that tested and shaped Ravana

Kelkar kept one rule in mind: Ravana should sound intelligent, well-read and in command, never uncertain. The exception is the scene where Ravana debates with his ten heads about going to war—the one moment where doubt is allowed.

Among the sequences Kelkar loved most:

• The ten-heads sequence
• The Vidyutjihva scene
• The opening sequence where Ravana seeks boons from Brahma

He called the assignment one of his most tiring dubbing experiences and said the role may be Yash’s toughest.

What this means for Hindi audiences

The Hindi dub will define how a large section of the audience experiences Ravana. Kelkar’s approach—keeping the character confident and authoritative—matters because Ravana’s intelligence is central to the film’s arc. Fans who want to hear Yash’s own interpretation can seek out the Kannada version, where Kelkar says Yash has done a brilliant job.

Box office momentum

The conversation arrives as the film, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, has crossed Rs 200 cr in worldwide gross collections within two days. Its India net collection has passed Rs 100 cr, adding extra energy to the Hindi-version rollout.

Source: The Times of India