MUMBAI: Sharad Kelkar lent his characteristic deep and husky voice to Prabas's character, the protagonist of Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Rajamouli's Baahubali is expected to return, although as an animated series, nine years after the films' big-screen premiere. Sharad is back as the main voice of Amarendra Baahubali in the web series.

Also read: Must Read! Sharad Kelkar Prioritizes Acting Over Voice, Makes Exception for The Legend of Hanuman

It's conceivable that Sharad received other offers after receiving well-deserved honours for his talent from his Baahubali gig. He admits this, but he also talked about how it served as a barrier because people only came up to him because of his attractive voice.

Sharad disclosed in this interview with the popular news portal that although his claim to fame has been Baahubali, he has also been stereotyped. Speaking on how Baahubali largely improved his life, he said, “Things come with good and bad, both. With Baahubali, obviously, the praise was bigger. The identity was bigger. After Baahubali a lot of filmmakers had started approaching me because of my voice.”

Sharad says while the offers were tempting, he wanted to be a wholesome actor. He says, “I dub well but that doesn’t mean that I’ll do a certain type of role that requires a good voice. I am an actor first, I can perform and when it comes to my voice I can take it to any dimension. They were not approaching me as an actor, so I started saying no to them. Because then it is a very easy cast and I don’t believe in that. I want to try new roles, do new work.”

“Fortunately, in the last two years a lot of people have shown trust in me. You’ll see a different Sharad Kelkar in Srikanth, there is one more film coming in June where too it is a different kind of role. I try and do different kinds of roles so that I am stuck being typecast. I am waiting for the good times, the best to come,” he adds.

Sharad also shared how his life changed after the SS Rajamouli film. “As an actor, as a human, my life changed after Baahubali 1 and 2. After many months, and a few articles, people finally realised that it was my voice. After Baahubali 2, my world completely changed. Ab har chhote chhote gaon mein log pehchante hain humein (people from small towns and villages now recognise me). Now even if I am wearing a mask, or I am in disguise, people identify me by my voice. For any artist, anything that becomes your identity, it’s a great achievement and you become unique in that field.”

Sharad credits filmmaker SS Rajamouli for changing his life. He says, “All the credit goes to SS Rajamouli sir who made me the voice of Baahubali. He chose me for that and gave me the liberty to dub as I perceived the character. During the first part, he used to come in the evening and check all the dubs. While dubbing for the second part he didn’t come, he trusted us with it completely, he’d say, ‘guys, do your job and get out! (Chuckles)’.”

Talking about how different it is to lend a voice for a character in the film versus an animation character, he says, “Working on Crown of Blood was different, yet similar. This time there was no face, no visuals, it was just dubbing first and then the animation. But it was very interesting. It was like going back to childhood when we used to read comic books. I used to have a bunch and I had also subscribed to a library, so every time a new comic book came, I would run and get them. So right now I am as excited as I used to be as a kid. Of course the format has changed, it’s not comic books, it has a series with specialised animation created for the screen and you can watch it with music and there’s a whole lot of action.”

Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan created Baahubali: Crown of Blood, which is helmed by Jeevan J. Kang and Naveen John. Disney+ Hotstar will begin streaming the animated series on May 17.

Also read: Must Read! Sharad Kelkar Prioritizes Acting Over Voice, Makes Exception for The Legend of Hanuman

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Credit: Mid-Day