Director Anees Bazmee Reveals Why a Voice Artist Was Hired for Katrina Kaif in Welcome
Anees Bazmee, the director of *Welcome*, recently revealed an interesting behind-the-scenes detail about the film. While developing Katrina Kaif’s character, they initially considered creating a backstory to justify her accent and unclear diction. The plan was to portray her character as someone who had lived abroad and returned to India, which would explain her speech. However, Bazmee ultimately felt that this would come off as manipulative. Instead, they decided to have her voice dubbed by a professional voice artist to maintain the authenticity of the character. This decision contradicts Katrina’s earlier claims that she had never needed her voice to be dubbed in any of her films.
In an interview with *The Lallantop*, Bazmee explained, “Katrina’s diction wasn’t very clear during the filming of *Welcome*, and her speech sometimes sounded off. She was still learning and improving her Hindi at that point, and though she was putting in a lot of effort, it wasn’t quite where we needed it to be for the character. We thought about creating a backstory, making it seem like her character had lived abroad all her life, but it felt dishonest. So, we chose to dub her voice instead.”
By the time Katrina worked on *Singh is Kinng* (2008), she had significantly improved her Hindi, and from that point onward, she began dubbing her own lines in films. Bazmee credited her dedication and hard work during this period, acknowledging how much effort she put into mastering the language and honing her skills.
Interestingly, Katrina Kaif had previously spoken about how her success in Bollywood was entirely based on her perseverance and determination to improve. In earlier interviews, she emphasized that despite not being fluent in Hindi initially, she worked tirelessly to perfect her language skills. She even recounted how Jackie Shroff advised her to learn the Devnagri script, a move that was crucial for her early career. Katrina shared, “Jackie Shroff was one of the first people to tell me how important it was to learn Devnagri because many directors at the time would write the dialogues on set in that script. I never wanted to be in a position where I didn’t understand what was going on, so I took it upon myself to learn it. That foundation helped me tremendously as I moved forward in my career.”
Katrina Kaif’s journey in Bollywood hasn’t been easy. Starting her career as an outsider with limited Hindi skills, she faced significant challenges. However, her determination helped her overcome these obstacles, as seen in films like *Namastey London* (2007) and *New York* (2009), which established her as a leading actress in the industry. Her success came from a mix of hard work, dedication, and continuous improvement, as she worked on her language skills, acting abilities, and overall craft.
*Welcome*, released in 2007, was a major comedy hit and starred Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, and Paresh Rawal. Akshay Kumar played the lead role of Rajiv Saini, while Katrina portrayed Sanjana Shetty, the sister of gangsters Uday Shetty (played by Nana Patekar) and Majnu Bhai (played by Anil Kapoor). Paresh Rawal brought his comedic touch to the role of Dr. Ghungroo, while veteran actor Feroz Khan played the memorable role of Ranvir Dhanraj X, also known as RDX, marking his final appearance on the silver screen. The film was a massive success and is still regarded as one of the finest comedies of its time.
Despite her struggles, Katrina’s role in *Welcome* was a stepping stone in her career. While she may have had her voice dubbed for this film, it didn’t diminish her rise to stardom, and by the following year, she was handling her dubbing on her own. The movie remains a fond memory for many, with its iconic characters and comedic plotlines leaving a lasting impact on Bollywood comedy.
