I hate programmes dubbed in Hindi. And I hate the fact that cable operators in CR Park have chosen to give us Cartoon Network and Pogo in Hindi, thus depriving me of the few watchable things on TV. But yesterday I was watching the 60s Batman TV show, 
dubbed, and I have to say that dubbing makes it all even campier, something I thought reasonably impossible. All the jokes are lost in translation, there’s obviously no lip-sync, and everything looks even funnier. Which in this case, at least, is a good thing. The show that almost singlehandedly defined camp, and the language of internationally famous camp cinema: Deadly combination. What’s Hindi for camp, by the way?
Samit Basu
Novelist, film director, screenwriter, columnist
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Chalo, Robin!
Samit Basu 
And History Channel, Discovery Channel and National Geographic also come in Hindi. Every couple of weeks they switch it to Hindi, which when I find out, I spend the next week fighting to get the English versions back. It’s ridiculous. As if Star Plus wasn’t enough.
Posted by невÑоÑиÑеÑкий | June 8, 2005, 6:23 amThey used to have a weird version of the Simpsons where it would play in Hindi on Star Plus and in english on some other Star Channel or at certain times of the day.
Really bloody confusing. I say let the dubbing for the “mainstream” channels but channels like National Geographic or Discovery or History Channel shouldn’t be messed with. Or at least channels that show “mature” content.
Posted by anangbhai | June 8, 2005, 6:31 amHoly rangoli!
Posted by Jabberwock | June 8, 2005, 3:00 pmby god ki kasam
kitne kool hai hum!
Posted by vAgue | June 8, 2005, 3:36 pmThe most painful case of dubbing for me has been Thomas the Tank Engine (yes, I loved that cartoon!) During the credits at the beginning, the last line is “narrated by Ringo Starr”. And then comes the dubbed hindi voice. Heartbreaking.
Posted by Aishwarya | June 12, 2005, 9:34 amfunnily enough the hindi/urdu/hindustani/urdu whateveveryouwant to callit for ‘camp’ is actually, erm, ‘urdu’.
zabaan e urdu e mualla – the langugage of the exalted ‘camp’.
which says much about hindi/urdu culture, language and cinema, does it not?
Posted by Anand | June 17, 2005, 9:50 amDubbing/Subtitling are important for culture transfer between countries.
I do agree that the quality of present dubs on TV is bad…but thats due to lot of other factors…viz pricing..overflow of work….incompetent actors…no linguist director etc etc..
Dubbing essentially makes the product more local.Infact educational channels like NGC/Discovery need to be dubbed to reach bigger audiences.
Just remember mostly it is for those people who dont understand English & cant relate to it with language/culture/background & other nuances.
Posted by Media Movers, Inc. | August 4, 2005, 11:22 pm