I was watching an MGR¹ movie from the sixties when my friend walked in. Even before she looked at the screen, she asked, “Saroja Devi² is it?” “Yes, how do you know?” I asked. “Well, I heard her voice as I was walking in,” she said. While we continued watching the movie, she added, “this is a thing of the past, now they all sound alike.”

In Tamil cinema, there has been a trend in using dubbed voices for actresses in lead roles since the 1980s. Even though this has been discussed widely in popular literature, a detailed academic analysis on the way female voices are used in Tamil cinema is rare. Silverman (1988) and Greene (2009) have highlighted the fact that the sound regime in films has not received enough theoretical or empirical attention. Without a serious analysis of how sounds are used in movies (which may include background music, as well as what is spoken or produced by the actor/actress on the screen, and narration) one will not be able to understand a film’s meaning and ideology–because a film is a medium that uses both sound and vision (Silverman, 1988). Similarly, Greene (2009) in her conclusion explained that “sound, and particularly the recorded voice, is just as important as the visual for carrying a film’s meaning” (p. 73). The convention of sound recordings is very important in contrasting certain subject positions in films, similar to the conventions of camera use and framing (Greene, 2009).

Silverman (1988) explained that there is a sexual difference in the sound regime in cinema and that the female voice is also held to normative representations and functions like the female body. Greene (2009) in her study found that,

The manner in which a voice is recorded and given spatial characteristics and reverberation in the reproduction of that sound can allow a character to embody a space more fully. In general, female characters have been denied this embodiment […]. (p. 73)

Female bodies in films on the other hand, have received much attention among feminist film scholars. Many researchers have shown that there is a clear bias in how male and female bodies are presented on the screen (Greene, 2009). Studies have plainly identified that female bodies are presented for the male gaze in movies. This has been documented not only for Hollywood movies but also for movies produced in India (Derne & Jadwin, 2000; Mulvey, 1975; Tere, 2012). Similarly many studies have discussed how female bodies have been sexualized and objectified in movies (Karupiah, 2015; Pennell & Behm-Morawitz, 2015; Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2015). Following Greene (2009) and Silverman’s (1988) argument, it can be concluded that these studies have a visual bias and focus mainly on the images that are shown in the movies. A similar bias has been identified in studies related to other audio-visual media, such as advertisements (Pedelty & Kuecker, 2014).

The sexual difference in the sound regime of the cinema and the presentation of female voices has not been explored in many studies, particularly with respect to South Asian movies. This paper, therefore, explores how the female voice is presented in Tamil movies and whether the voice is presented in a similar manner as the female body, namely, to conform to normative representations. This paper particularly focuses on the use of dubbed voices among female actors in the lead roles in Tamil movies and confirms how such techniques are used to restrict the female voice in those movies. This study provides empirical evidence about how gender inequality in cinema is maintained not only through visual but also through aural practices. It has also identified some points of departure for further exploration of the use of sound in cinema, particularly focusing on Tamil or other South Asian cinema that has its own unique traditions and techniques. This study also contributes to the exploration of the use of sound in cinema, which is scarce in feminist media studies.

Tamil movies in this study refers to movies produced in Tamil Nadu, India. Tamil cinema began in the early 20th century together with Hindi and Bengali cinema. Madras (now Chennai) became the center of South Indian cinema, which included Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema (Velayutham, 2008). While these four cinemas seem distinct from each other, the boundaries between them are rather porous. Stories, actors, actresses, and technicians often move from one type of cinema to another or are used simultaneously in different languages (see Nakassis, 2015). Since the early years of the Tamil cinema to date, most heroines have worked in more than one South Indian language. Some have also acted in Hindi movies.

Tamil cinema moved from movies to talkies in the early 1930s. Movies in the early stages featured mythology, social issues, and nationalistic ideas. There were also some subaltern issues highlighted in these movies. The post-independence period saw a huge number of movies promoting, and influenced by Dravidian politics. Tamil cinema helped the articulation of the Dravidian identity and Tamil nationalism. This had such a strong impact on Tamil Nadu politics that almost all Chief Ministers in Tamil Nadu from the late 1960s to 2016 were involved in Tamil cinema (see Nakassis, 2015 and Velayutham, 2008 for a detailed discussion on this).

Tamil movies have always centered on the hero. On the other hand, the roles and portrayal of the heroines have gone through some changes in recent years. Many movies during the post-independence period focused on the notion of Tamil femininity, which emphasized karpu (chastity and purity). The heroines were portrayed as traditional female archetypes and gave great emphasis to motherhood and the role of a Tamil mother (Lakshmi, 2008). The 1970s marked many changes in the role of the heroines. Their portrayal as pleasurable objects for the male gaze became more prominent, while maintaining some elements of traditional femininity (see Chinniah, 2008). At the same time, this period produced many movies that showed women who do not conform to the traditional norms of femininity and the issues faced by women in an urbanizing Tamil Nadu (Chinniah, 2008). In contemporary movies, even though heroines are objectified and presented for the male gaze, the emphasis on traditional femininity is still evident (Karupiah, 2016).

In most Tamil movies, dialogues are not recorded during the filming process but are re-recorded after the filming process. Most songs in contemporary Tamil movies are sung by playback singers, and actors (male and female) usually lip-sync these songs. There are songs that are sung by the actors themselves but the number is negligible. In the Tamil movie industry, playback singers have been professional musicians and public celebrities since the 1950s (Weidman, 2014). They have a strong fan base and are acknowledged in the movies. In addition, they are also known through their shows and public appearances in concerts. The same cannot be said about the voice-actors or dubbing artists. Even though their names are acknowledged in the movies,³ they are not considered celebrities.

The re-recording of the dialogue in Tamil movies after the shooting of the scenes is often done to maintain the quality of the sound recorded. The re-recording process may use the voice of the actor who played the role, or the voice of a dubbing artist. Dubbing is commonly used to replace the voices of actors speaking a foreign language, but in Indian movies, and particularly in South Indian movies (which includes Tamil movies), dubbing⁴ (by either the actor or a voice-actor) is often used in the original production.

Data for this study came from two sources. First was a content analysis of 40 Tamil movies produced between 1961 and the first half of 2012. Here, only movies produced in Tamil were selected. They were chosen using a simple random sampling method. A sampling frame with more than 4,500 films was created, based on searches using five different Internet search engines. In the content analysis, the researcher and another coder identified if the hero and the heroine used their own voice or used a dubbed voice in the movies. Because the names of the dubbing artists and the characters are not specifically identified in the opening credits, some level of judgment and knowledge about the actors, dubbing artists, and the Tamil movie industry is involved. The second set of data is from the content analysis of eight websites, namely, six news articles, a blog entry (including 60 comments left by readers), and a forum discussion. These websites were analyzed to explore how the issue of voice dubbing is discussed in the popular media and by viewers. It allowed the researcher to explore how some viewers felt about the practice of dubbing in Tamil movies. Phrases such as “Tamil dubbing artists,” “Tamil voice-actor,” “Tamil dubbing artist blog,” “Tamil dubbing artists forum,” and “voice Tamil heroines” were used in Google search to identify these websites. Only the websites on the first page of the search were used in this study. In addition, four YouTube videos were also analyzed. All these videos were uploaded by the channel that produced them. These videos are interviews of dubbing artists: Deepa Venkat, Sreeja Ravi, and Savitha Reddy. Table 1 provides the details of the search and the number included in, and excluded from, the content analysis.

For the Google searches, all Wikipedia entries were excluded. In addition, websites related to dubbing of other Indian languages and dubbing of movies in other languages were excluded. Websites with advertisements for or about dubbing artists were also excluded. Finally, some websites were excluded because they were irrelevant to the study. For the search on YouTube, only four videos by popular female dubbing artists were analyzed.

In this phase of content analysis, the researcher identified the names of dubbing artists and actresses who used voice dubbing. This included the names of the movies where dubbed voices were used. Other than that, the researcher also identified the reasons given for the use of dubbed voices. In addition, the content analysis looked at various issues related to the use of dubbed voices in Tamil movies, which were highlighted on these websites. These issues were categorized under various themes: reasons for using the dubbed voice, bias in the use of the dubbed voice, and lack of authenticity.

One of the main reasons why Tamil heroines use dubbed voices is because most Tamil heroines are neither ethnolinguistically Tamil nor competent Tamil speakers (Nakassis, 2015). When actresses are not able to speak Tamil, it is also very difficult for them to speak in the various accents of Tamil according to the character in the movies. This fact is widely known by industry insiders and audiences of Tamil movies (Nakassis, 2015). Nakassis (2015) goes on to explain that the lack of Tamil-speaking heroines is due to the historical stigma of the cinema and to being an actress. In his paper, he explained that as many acting roles include dancing, exposing one’s body, or hugging and kissing a man, they are not seen as things that a family girl would do and, therefore, she is looked down upon by some sections of the society. He has also explained the complex intersection of caste, class, and notions of masculinity and femininity in Tamil society in India, and how these discourage Tamil women from being involved in the glamour of Tamil cinema. On the other hand, Tamil movie viewers in a study in Malaysia highlighted the fact that there is an emphasis on casting a fair/white heroine; therefore, their competency in Tamil is not considered important by the moviemakers (Karupiah, 2015).

However, the above discussion does not explain why dubbed voices are used for so many heroines including those who are competent in speaking Tamil such as Trisha,⁷ Sneha, and Nayanthara. Sneha used a dubbed voice in some of her Tamil movies while Nayanthara and Trisha have used voice dubbing in the majority of their Tamil movies. One of the most puzzling questions is why actresses who are able to speak Tamil agree to using a dubbed voice as doing so makes them ineligible for the National Award, which is considered the most prominent award ceremony for Indian movies (see National Film Award Regulations, 2011).⁸ One possible explanation is that actresses have a short career as a heroine in Tamil cinema. This is because there is an obsession with casting young heroines in Tamil movies (Karupiah, 2015). Most heroines are given supporting roles when they reach their mid or late thirties. This obsession is not only seen in Tamil movies but also in Hollywood movies, although there are more Hollywood movies featuring older women stars in recent years (Jermyn, 2012). Therefore, actresses may choose to maximize their on-screen presence by committing themselves to many movies in a short period of time rather than spending time dubbing their voices for their movies.

Voice-actors on the other hand, have careers that span decades. Because voice-actors are hidden from the camera, they enjoy a long career as long as they are still able to portray youthfulness in their voice. The long career of these voice-actors also means that at least three generations of leading actresses are heard to have similar voices. As heroines are often showcased as the most attractive in the movies, this may lead to the stereotyping of types of voices that are considered feminine and attractive. Because the media is a powerful socializing agent, generations of viewers may be socialized to believe that only limited types of voices are feminine or attractive. Future research needs to explore this by taking into account the views of the audience. Dubbing artists also do not enjoy celebrity status nor are they as well appreciated for their skills as the actresses. Deepa Venkat in her interview explained that only two actresses had called her and appreciated her efforts in giving voice to their acting. She also added that the role of a dubbing artist is as important as the role of the actress but she was not sure how the actress felt about the matter (IndiaGlitz Tamil Movies, 2014). While the career patterns of heroines and voice-actors are different, they are two examples of the many women laborers who are being discriminated against in a male-dominated film industry, and this can also be explored in future research.

Why is the use of voice dubbing among female lead actors a problem? As shown in the analysis, in Tamil movies a few dubbing artists are often used to provide voices for many actresses; hence, only limited types of voice are heard from the heroines, who are often associated with attractiveness and goodness in Tamil movies. This trend somehow limits the variation in the types of voices heard from the lead characters in movies. In terms of physical appearance, there is overwhelming evidence that women who are shown in the media such as movies often fall within a very narrowly defined set of beauty standards (Davis, 2000; Karupiah, 2015; Spurgas 2005). Some of these beauty standards may be unachievable and unrealistic for most women (Forbes, Collinsworth, Jobe, Braun, & Wise, 2007; Spurgas, 2005). In Tamil movies, women showcased in the lead roles are mostly thin, fair/white, and young. They often are the love interest of the lead male character and are shown to be carefree and playful. There is a high prevalence of women shown in revealing clothes, some that are not commonly worn by women in Tamil Nadu. In addition, women are sexualized in dance sequences; not only are they shown in revealing clothes but also with suggestive dance moves (Karupiah, 2016). Sexualization and the objectification of women is emphasized through the use of the camera. It is common for the camera to move along the different body parts of a woman, particularly when focusing on the heroine. The movement of the camera alternated with pauses is often used accordingly to show a woman’s breasts, lips, or midriff (Karupiah, 2016). In addition, women including those playing supporting roles are objectified in scripts, through using double meanings or colloquial terms that literally or figuratively identify women as objects. Such portrayals not only objectify women on screen but clearly show that the portrayal of women in Tamil movies is meant for the heterosexual male gaze.

With the use of a limited number of dubbing artists in Tamil movies, the type of voices for female lead roles heard in movies occupies a narrow spectrum, similar to how the heroines’ physical appearances have been narrowly defined. Therefore, as Silverman (1988) argued, their voices are also limited to what is defined by the directors and movie technicians as the norm. Because the heroine is mostly the love interest of the movie’s hero, she is often portrayed as good and mostly conforms to the traditional notion of femininity even when shown in sexy attire (Chinniah, 2008; Karupiah, 2016); the restricted range of voices are also projected as being attractive and good. The few types of women’s voices that are heard in Tamil movies are soft, childlike, and gentle to exemplify the heroine’s youth and immaturity.

There may be two explanations why female voices are limited in Tamil movies. First, as heroines are often presented as pleasurable objects for the male gaze of other male characters in the movie or the audience, their voice, like their physical appearance is also being packaged according to what is assumed to be attractive to the viewers as noted by Shakti (“Why are they given dubbing voice,” n.d.), voice that works. Silverman (1988) used the plot of the movie Singin’ in the Rain (1952) to explain how only female voices that seem to have compatibility with the body are used in cinema. A voice that contradicts the visual appearance is resisted in sound cinema. Voices that are hoarse or rough are not heard from the heroines because they are deemed incompatible with a beautiful and attractive body. Therefore, her body and voice are being fitted into what is considered attractive. She looks and sounds young, often playing a role that highlights her immaturity and playfulness. Another possible explanation is also related to the male gaze. As heroines are presented mostly to provide visual impact, the uniqueness of their voices becomes less important. The fact that many heroines sound similar–or the same–may not be seen as important as long as the heroines can be presented as visually attractive.

This is very different when it comes to the heroes. Most Tamil movies are hero-centric and hence the role of the hero is seen as important to the storyline. Thus the cast of heroes has more variation in terms of looks, size (Karupiah, 2015) and voice as most heroes deliver their dialogue themselves, including speaking in various dialects and slang. The heroes are able to have a voice even if it does not seem compatible with their body. Hence, many different kinds of voices are heard from the leading men. Using their own voice maintains the authenticity of their acting and gives uniqueness to their performance. Viewers are able to identify the actor not only from his looks but also from the way he sounds. In stage and television shows, many mimicry artists i.e., impressionists try to imitate the voices of male actors in Tamil cinema.

One of the limitations of this study is that it only focused on analyzing the voices of the heroines. It did not include the voices of supporting actor/actresses. This is mainly because not all supporting actors and actresses are listed in Tamil movies. In addition, the dubbing artists used are not listed according to the actors who use their voice. However, some examples of former heroines who used dubbed voices in supporting roles in the later stages of their careers are Nagma, Nirosha, Ambika, while Radhika, Saranya, and Revathi use their own voices. Many male actors such as Prakash Raj, Jeyaram, Prabhu, Samuthira Kani who have acted, or still act in lead roles use their own voices when taking a supporting role. Similarly, actors such as the late Manivannan, the late Raghuvaran, and Radha Ravi, who often take a supporting role in movies, use their own voices. However, actors such as Ashish Vidyarthi, Vidyut Jammwal, Danny Denzongpa, and Sharath Lohitashwa, who are not native speakers and mainly act as antagonists, use dubbed voices (Suganth, 2016).

Another limitation of this study is that it did not include an analysis of the voices used for characters that do not conform to the hegemonic norms of masculinity and femininity. In Tamil movies, portrayal of aravanis⁹ is more common compared to other transgender people (e.g., Sarath Kumar in Kanchana, 2011 and Prakash Raj in Appu, 2000). In some movies, heroes take dual roles: a heterosexual male exhibiting many elements of hegemonic masculinity as the hero and a male to female transgendered person as the antagonist (e.g., Vikram in Iru Mugan, 2016 and Jayam Ravi in Aadhi Bhagavan, 2013). There are also movies that portray effeminate men (e.g., Kamal Hasan in Viswaroopam, 2013 and Ajith in Varalaru, 2006). In most cases, the actors use their own voices. However, it is not clear how voice is used generally to portray characters that do not conform to the binary gender norms. Future research should focus on providing a more detailed explanation.

The findings of this study clearly show that there is a clear bias in the use of dubbed voices in Tamil movies. The use of voice dubbing limits the type of voice heard from the leading female actors in Tamil movies. Feminists have often argued that women’s voices are not heard in the film industry, highlighting the lack of movies directed by women and presented from women’s points of view. Feminists often argue that the media, in general, showcases very limited body types, color, or features; this encourages various stereotypes about women and may be harmful to viewers. In this matter, Tamil movies go further by limiting not only what is seen on screen but the female voices heard in movies.