‘Audio show is more intimate, technical’

Adarsh Gourav is building an interesting resume Where he is leading the YA movie Kho Gaye Hum Kahan he is equally at home in the international project Extrapolations Naturally when the opportunity to be a part of the DC universe came his way he jumped at it The White Tiger actor recently lent his voice for Audiblersquos The Sandman in Hindi So how does one of the most promising actors of Bollywoodrsquos young crop give his own interpretation to the foulmouthed temperamental John Constantine Gourav gives us the lowdownEdited excerpts from the interviewHave you been a fan of graphic novelsI have read a few graphic novels I have of course heard of the DC universe character The Sandman and knew that Neil Gaiman had written it But I have not read it When I got the opportunity to dub for Constantine his character I knew of the existing audio show on the subjectThe story of The Sandman as a comic series is vast Where do you figure in the scheme of thingsThe story is about Sandman also called Lord Morpheus who is dragged from his realm and imprisoned on earth While he escapes in order to regain his power he has to reacquire three things mdash ruby helm and pouch He then goes to hell and meets characters like Lucifer Morningstar and William Shakespeare among others John Constantine is an occult detective with magic powers an antihero of sorts He is aggressive foulmouthed has a temper problem and can go to any extent to get the job doneIs this your first brush with the audio mediumThis is my first audio project with Audible but I have done some audio work before I had dubbed for the Hindi version of Ryan Reynoldsrsquos movie Free Guy 2021 I have done voiceover for ads tooWould the show have been a better opportunity if it was a visual fareI would love all of us mdash Manoj Bajpayee Neeraj Kabi Vijay Varma Tillotama Shome Sushant Divgikar Kubbra Sait and Tabu mdash to be a part of it if it ever comes out as a seriesHow was the recording processWe were all recording for the show separately as per each onersquos availability Before coming on board I was made to hear the English version and there was a lot of discussion that went into finding Constantinersquos voice It was a methodical processWhen you are acting you use multiple instruments of your body In an audio show it is much more intimate and technical when the sole focus is on your voice It has to be designed to get the desired effect It is tricky to find the voice One has to understand the story and the character to understand how the texture and pitch need to be so that it can appeal to a large number of peopleIs the show IndianisedNo but because it is in Hindi it is more accessible There is a large population that prefers to listen to stories in Hindi It is a brilliant move to adapt a successful franchise into HindiThere could easily be a spinoff on John Constantine besides Hell BlazerI would love it if there is a spinoff in Hindi I would jump at the opportunityWhatrsquos next for youI am currently filming for Kho Gaye Hum Kahan There is a gangster drama that will roll in December Guns and Gulaabs with RajDK will come out this year I shot for Apple TVrsquos Extrapolations last year that should also release this year