Sonchiriya: Two versions of Sushant Singh Rajput – Bhumi Pednekar’s film being shown in theatres? CB exclusive!

Theatre-goers have been complaining about Abhishek Chaubey’s Sonchiriya not being shown in the original Bundelkhandi language. Cinema lovers say the film has been dubbed in Hindi by dubbing artists and not by the real cast of the film. An authentic film from the hinterland of India getting a mainstream release in Bollywood is a rare phenomenon. So when you get to see an enticing trailer of a film like Sonchiriya, that has Abhishek Chaubey (Ishqiya, Udta Punjab) at the helm of it and production giant Ronnie Screwvala backing it, you’re eager to witness the cinematic magic in the theatres. With great anticipation and excitement we waited in the cinema hall for the lights to go off and let the movie magic begin. Director Abhishek Chaubey sets the tone for the film with the first visual – a close-up of flies hovering over a carcass. You know that it’s not going to be a comfortable ride, but you will marvel at the cinematic brilliance. But after the great start came a ridiculous disappointment.

When you have watched great performers like Manoj Bajpayee and Ranvir Shorey, you can recognise them with their voices even if they’re not seen onscreen. But here the case was different, they were seen on screen but the voices sounded nothing like theirs. Yes! As ridiculous and infuriating it may sound, the film was dubbed in Hindi by dubbing artists. And if we could distinguish between all the voices correctly, it seemed like two or three dubbing artists have dubbed for everyone without caring to give the characters some uniqueness through voices. It was difficult to sit through the film when you’re seeing such nuanced performances by Manoj Bajpayee (who plays Man Singh again after Bandit Queen), Ranvir Shorey (the best performer in the film) and Sushant Singh Rajput (in fine form) but you’re hearing voices of some random men. Probably the only original voice from the lead cast that was retained was that of Bhumi Pednekar as most of her dialogues were in Hindi to begin with.

It’s understandable that a dacoit film made in Chambal, and characters speaking in Bundelkhandi dialect will have a smaller number of audiences coming to the cinemas. But if the film had to be dubbed in Hindi so that a larger audience can be reached then at least it should have been dubbed by the real cast. Was it a frantically taken decision by the makers or the distributors? From what we hear, the makers have asked the distributors to return the dubbed Hindi version and show the original Bundelkhandi dialect. (Also read: 5 reasons to watch Sonchiriya)

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, in a post on his Instagram handle, has clearly said that neither he nor his colleagues in the film have dubbed for the film and has urged the audience to send the names of the movie theatres to him.

View this post on Instagram

Dear ALL, PLease Read This. 🙏 Yours sincerely, Sushant Singh Rajput 🙏❤️💫 Jai Shiv Shambho 🔱 ps. Best Wishes and Congratulations to the sincere सोनचिड़िया team. जय भवानी 👏 👏 ✊pps.. AbhishekCahubey I love you sir:))🙏❤️

A post shared by Sushant Singh Rajput (@sushantsinghrajput) on Mar 3, 2019 at 12:15am PST

Sonchiriya had a limited release in terms of screens allotted to the film. The film was shown in the original Bundelkhandi dialect for the press show. The general opinion was that it’s a tad difficult to understand the language and even though the film is good it might not reach out to many people. Could that be the reason why the film was immediately dubbed in Hindi? We are trying to get the real news from the makers and distributors. Stay tuned to CineBlitz as we bring you all the updates on Sonchiriya. (Also read: Movie review of Sonchiriya)