Thor: Love, bijlee

Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in the recently released movie

Confessedly a Marvel fan, I couldn't possibly count the number of times I've exploited dialogues from the Avengers franchise to evoke laughs during conversations. The fact that the franchise's makers aptly penned dialogues (‘I love you 3000', ‘On your left', ‘I'm always angry') to evoke a sense of nostalgia, wasn't lost on its fans. But it does beg the question of how these now-iconic phrases were translated in the films' dubbed versions. In a candid chat, Mayur Puri, who has worked on the Hindi translations of several Marvel films, including Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War, and the recently released, Thor: Love and Thunder, breaks down his process.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What are some of the basic rules set in place while tackling a Marvel film?
You have to be aware of the universe, because you're never writing for one film alone. You need to be aware of how all the other characters are placed. I was lucky that Captain America: Civil War was among the first films I worked on, because it had many layers. I have a Marvel encyclopedia at home. Honestly, in India, we didn't grow up with Marvel comics; although, we knew about them. I learnt on the job. As far as rules are concerned, we generally don't change proper nouns. If an attack has occurred in New York, that won't become New Delhi. Similarly, Iron Man will stay Iron Man; he won't become Loha Purush. But, while retaining that, if we can introduce a joke that's relevant to the local audience, it is welcomed. I try to push the envelope. For example, in Civil War, there is a scene in which Vision is cooking a meal for Wanda, and she approaches him. Since that is an intense scene, I wanted to add an element of humour, so that my audience could endure it. So I added the dialogue - ‘Ek chutki mirchi ki keemat tum kya jaano, Vision babu'. That became a problem, because the original film did not have a dialogue in that place. I am glad that the Disney India team gives way to such indulgences. Similarly, there was a discussion on what we'd call the Infinity Stones. They are proper nouns, but I knew the Hindi speaking audience may not understand it. So, I used the term, anantmani. I couldn't use pathar, even though they used the word stone, because pathar has no value in India. So, we called it anantmani, and then started using it interchangeably. Now, in the subsequent projects, I can use Infinity Stones alone, and my audience will accept it.

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Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame

The makers have appropriately used dialogues to create a recall value. A case in point being lines like, ‘On your left', or ‘Avengers, assemble', which were crucial in creating the impact that they did in the climax of Endgame. Can these dialogues create a similar impact when they are translated in Hindi?
I had to see what technology was used in the early films. I also had to do some research online and see the chatter around these dialogues. We don't always know which dialogues will become iconic while we are creating the first few films. For instance, Cap's iconic, ‘I can do this all day', was simply translated to, ‘Main toh yeh pura din kar sakta hoon'. The team working on it hadn't anticipated how crucial it would eventually become. When I noticed how iconic it was becoming, I changed it to a [more rousing], ‘Abhi toh shuruwat hai'. Another issue that we faced was while dealing with the role of Professor Hulk in Endgame. Until then, Hulk used broken sentences, and was generally [mute]. So, in the previous films, we had attached a childlike [attitude] to his dialogues. But here, he was constructing full sentences. So, we had to work around that and employ different tools to make it relatable. The dubbing also has to sit on the character's lips.

Another example is that of the role of Korg in Ragnarok. He had a small role, and was an endearing character made of rocks, who had no rage at all. I had once travelled to Hyderabad, and was witness to a conversation between my cab driver and another, who had cut his lane. I thought things would escalate, but their conversation was seamless and sweet. I realised that Hyderabadis have no rage. So, I gave Korg a Hyderabadi twist in the Hindi version. The Hindi film watchers loved that character! Now, in Thor: Love and Thunder, Korg has an elaborate role; he is the narrator. Since our approach to the character in the last Hindi version was so well received, we could cash in on that, and make him more exciting. Had I not given him a distinct twist in that film, we wouldn't be able to enhance his act this time either.

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Mayur Puri

Is the Marvel team apprehensive about creating characters with cultural differences?
There is a difference between racism, and accepting and celebrating our differences. We are different, and that is simply how it is. In Finding Dory, we had two sea lions who were sweet, but also very aggressive about protecting their [land]. I wanted to represent a [culture] that did justice to this mixture. So I made them Lucknowi nawabs, who are usually so welcoming, but can be assertive when they must. I will highlight another instance. In Ragnarok, a character brings two guns and says, ‘I got these from Texas. This one is Des, the other is Troy. Together, they Destroy'. I changed it to, ‘Main inhe Vasseypur se laya hoon. Yeh hai Bar, woh hai Badi. Saath mein, yeh hai barbadi.' The team raised an objection citing that we couldn't change the reference from Texas to Wasseypur. But I had to highlight that the audience wouldn't relate to Texas. Indians know that Wasseypur is known for its various gangs, and is like the Texas of India. I wanted to create that bridge for them.

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