Spiderman 3, Officially Released in Bhojpuri

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Ravi Kishan, Voice of Spidey

Though Hollywood films currently only take a modest slice of the Indian film market, Hollywood studios are working harder than ever to “colonize” Indian film audiences. The latest strategy is to move past Hindi dubbing — and release films dubbed in regional languages as well as Hindi.

This is the fruition of a long process of evolution, beginning with the “unofficial” dubs back in the day. Then, as more Hollywood films were being released in India, blockbuster films started getting officially dubbed — the peak of which might have been last year’s hugely successful Hindi version of Night at the Museum (Museum Ke Andar Phans Gaya Sikander, which is actually much catchier than the non-rhyming western title). And the Hindi release of The Incredibles also made waves a couple of years ago, when it was announced that the “dad” character’s voice was going to be dubbed by Shah Rukh Khan.

Now, Spiderman 3 is getting the official dubbing treatment — in Bhojpuri. The Bhojpuri film industry is the fastest growing segment of India’s different, language-based film markets. Last year, 76 Bhojpuri films were released, which is still less than other languages (245 Telugu films; 225 Hindi films), but with a captive audience of 100 million+ Bhojpuri speakers in UP and Bihar, the fan base is vast.

Here Spidey’s voice is being dubbed by Ravi Kishan (pictured right), a “Bhojywood” superstar responsible for hits like Panditji Batayie Mera Byah Kab Hoi. The budget for the dubbing alone was $250,000 (Rs. 1 Crore), which is about three times the entire budget for a regular Bhojpuri film, and Ravi Kishan says he spent 12 days doing it (on his normal films, he normally does all vocal dubbing in a single day).

Kishan seems to have a sense of humor about his dubbing work:

“No, this isn’t a nightmare. I’m dubbing for ‘Spiderman’ in Bhojpuri.”

The last such film from Hollywood to be dubbed in India by a star was “The Incredibles” in which Shah Rukh Khan gave voice to the main character.

“Well they don’t call me the Shah Rukh of Bhojpuri cinema for nothing. I’m doing this because I wanted my Bhojpuri fans to enjoy ‘Spiderman’ in the voice that they love – mine!

“Wait till they hear me saying ‘Hum makad manav hain, ud kar aayab aur tohar tetuwa dabaa deb’
(I’m Spiderman, I’ll fly to you and throttle you).” (link)

Well, at least he’s not shy about it.

84 thoughts on “Spiderman 3, Officially Released in Bhojpuri

  1. Indian movies in general are superficial and its all about looks , yet almost all top stars are not good looking. Consider SRK, Big B, Chiru, Rajni, Mohanlal.

    Indianguy: Hey! what do you mean lumping my sweetie pie Shahrukh with the “not good looking” superstars!? With the right lighting, and correct camera angles – even Mr. Brad Pitt couldn’t hold a candle to the Badshah of Bollywood!! 🙂

  2. SPOILER ALERT – SORT OF

    you would just come out feeling – well, unsure of how you felt.

    Exactly, this film didn’t have an underlying thread, or thematic statement. They tried with Harry’s & Peter’s choice, but it wasn’t really compelling. Peter’s line towards the end, “You always have a choice. Harry taught me that” would have been more effective had they cut out the Sandman character completely and stuck with Venom & Hobgoblin.

  3. The whole movie was about personal vengence not saving the world.

  4. the second because it showed the humanity and vulnerability of so called “superheros”

    Not to be forgotten, it also had Asif Mandvi in it.

  5. With the right lighting, and correct camera angles – even Mr. Brad Pitt couldn’t hold a candle to the Badshah of Bollywood!! 🙂

    I agree, SRK has amazing screen presence. If you show his pics and lets say Salman Khan’s pics to some random non-browns, Sallu wins hands down. But if you show video clips, there is no comparison, its SRK all the way 🙂

  6. Not to be forgotten, it also had Asif Mandvi in it.

    Aah, Now I remember. I was wondering where did I see him before, Thanks

  7. Is this film too scary for a five year old? Is it scarier (kid’s POV) than Pirates II? I personally don’t care for Spidey and rest of the chaddiwallas, but promises have been made.

  8. @Shodan – Spidey 3 is rated 14 and above . Venom is pretty scary … for a 5 yr old it would most definitely be nightmare-material.

  9. I used to hear Bhojpuri spoken by relatives in UP and would cringe at the sound. I can’t imagine entire films spoken in Bhojpuri.

  10. Aparna…. Awww..no..where would I be without the famous Bhaiyyas of Mumbai.Hamra gaon..rahi Dhakuan..jilla Azamgarh (say Ajamgad). Kela laibe ka sahab? You’ve obviously not danced to “khai ke pan banaraswala”? Some of the sweetest (meethi) “boli” in Mumbai.Take it from a Southie with a soft corner for it.

  11. My man Ardy (#41), right on. I have the same exact memories of the giant robot, and had the same reaction a few years ago when I caught it as an adult. Ditto for the original star trek.

  12. Bhojpuri is probably one of the more ‘alive and kicking’ dialects of Hindi at this time. Hindi dialects in general, like Marwari, Braj, Awadhi, Bundeli, Haryanvi, etc. are gradually declining and being replaced by mainstream Hindi

    Have any of you seen the movie “Nawabs of Hyderabad”? – Great example of Hyderabadi Hindi.

  13. Have any of you seen the movie “Nawabs of Hyderabad”? – Great example of Hyderabadi Hindi.

    Or you could watch The Angrez here. Crappy movie, lots of Hyderabadi hindi, some ABD stereotyping too.

  14. Or you could watch The Angrez here. Crappy movie, lots of Hyderabadi hindi, some ABD stereotyping too

    Ardy: Tried to watch “Angrez” – Totally unbearable!! 🙁 Couldn’t watch more than 5 minutes. Thanks for the link anyway.

  15. Bhojpuri Cinema dates back to the sixties. What is new and surprising is its extreme popularity in the face of a rapidly urbanizing India.

    I don’t know how many Hindi dialects have spawned their own movie industry, but Bhojpuri does enjoy a couple of advantages. First, it is spoken by an estimated 120 million people in UP and Bihar and their own diaspora in urban centers like Delhi and Mumbai. So the market is big enough for a movie genre. Secondly, it is the one Hindi dialect that has been stereotyped by Bollywood as the official village language of North India. Can you imagine a “bhaiya” character in a Hindi movie speak anything but Bhojpuri? Even the famous stars, such as Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Amitabh Bachhan have played Bhojpuri speaking characters in mainstream Hindi cinema. And the songs have further established Bhojpuri as the official ruralspeak – for example, “Khai ke paan Banaras Wala,” in the movie, DON, both the Amitabh and Shah Rukh versions.

    Wikipedia states that Bhojpuri is the only Indian language spoken on all continents. In Bihar and UP, it is still a very common dialect. Barring the tiny upper middle class, which shuns dialects in favor of “proper” Hindi or English, the semi-urban and rural people who would easily add up to 120 million, speak Bhojpuri as their first language.

    I am originally from Bihar and just love the language. I prefer the Banarasi version, though, which has a lilt and an uptalk making it very sound very charming. I wish I was on the streets of Banaras right now ordering a paan in Bhojpuri.

  16. I used to hear Bhojpuri spoken by relatives in UP and would cringe at the sound. I can’t imagine entire films spoken in Bhojpuri.

    Do you think it makes you ‘cool’ to denigrate (what you probably perceive as) the language of rustics, but which is in fact possibly your true mothertongue? Which you’ve been brainwashed to believe is inferior? Or just a mere lowly dialect? What’s wrong with the sound of Bhojpuri? While I agree that these things are subjective, but it certainly has its own beauty. Many snobby Punjabis in Delhi say the same thing about Punjabi that you’ve said about Bhojpuri. I think that’s very sad.

    Amardeep, just wanted to point out that the clip of Punjabi Spiderman you linked to seems to be in Pakistani Punjabi. Very funny and well-done.

    Floridian, I would hesitate to call the Bollywood caricature of Bhojpuri as real Bhojpuri. In those Bolly dialogues, they basically take Hindi, give it a ‘pseudo’ or ‘faux’ Bhojpuri feel, and pass it off as being authentic. Khaike Paan Banaras Wala has a Bhojpuri touch, but it’s not like a real Bhojpuri song from rural UP or Bihar. I’ll put it this way…the average urban Hindi-speaker can still understand Bollywood “Bhojpuri”…which after all is the goal anyway…but would have a VERY hard time understanding two villagers from Bihar talking to each other. The latter is real Bhojpuri.

  17. The real reason for the rise in the Bhojpuri industry is because mainstream Bollywood is leaving the rural Hindi heartland far behind. Movies in the 80s and even early 90s (think Govinda era) were largely geared with the Hindi heartland in mind. That was probably the biggest market at that time. Post Dil Chahta Hai, Bollywood has focused more and more on urban, middle-class India, as well as the growing NRI audiences of UK, Canada, and the US. Rural audiences are not going to connect to Saif Ali Khan speaking Hinglish to Preiti Zinta in New York while they both mull having affairs with other people or whatever. So the Bhojpuri industry has grown to fill that vacuum. Unlike the Govinda-era films, though, they won’t have an audience outside UP/Bihar.

  18. I saw the movie today. Bhojpuri just might be able to add some color to an extremely overwrought but insipid movie.

  19. does anyone have any internet clips of Spiderman III in Bhojpuri…is it out on DVD? Not sure if I can get it in USA

  20. Parijat, why bhojpuri people have no right to have fun from hollywood movies in their own language? if it is in tamil, telugu then it is fine but in bhojpuri makes you sick. i would say then remain sick, no one cares.

  21. some one please give me the link where can i download spiderman in bhojpuri

    realy searching from a long time but nt found any where

    please can some one help me

    please send me link of torrent or web address

    my e-mail id is verma.varun.lala@gmail.com

    despirately need it plese mail me d link

  22. hi

    dear all memebers can any one tell me how to get the spiderman 3 in bhojpuri through net please can any one tell me the link or any one is having cd or dvd please tell me through mail my mail id is

    ajayrai2006@gmail.com