Narrating the Hindi version of the graphic novel series The Sandman was a great experience, says Tabu

PTI

For someone whose childhood was all about listening to the radio, actor Tabu says narrating the Hindi audiobook adaptation of the popular graphic novel series The Sandman was an opportunity to further explore her strength as a voice artiste.

Reminiscing about her childhood days when she would hear different stories on Vividh Bharti’s famous radio show Hawa Mahal, Tabu says she always had a special place for the audio medium in her heart. “I love podcasts and as a country we have grown up listening to the radio; television and electronic media came much later. At least with my generation, childhood was all about listening to the radio… There’s a lot of stuff that you can do with your voice. Every actor has a distinct voice and it conveys different things,” Tabu says.

Audible, a leading producer and provider of spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks, last month launched Act I of The Sandman in Hindi. Originally created in English by Neil Gaiman, alongside artists Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, the DC graphic novel was adapted in Hindi by Neerja Chittaranjan and Nirupama Kartik. While Gaiman served as narrator for the English version, Tabu is the voice for the same in Hindi.

Tough challenge

Regarded as one of the finest Indian actors, the National Award-winner says she is honoured to be associated with the project. “The Sandman occupies a very important place in my repertoire. It was a huge responsibility. You just have to be fair, do justice to something that somebody has created out of their own imagination. So, I had a huge responsibility, but it was a challenge,” she says.

A seasoned actress, Tabu also terms the method of recording the audio as a ‘very solitary’, task as one sits alone in a studio, reading the lines without any visual stimulus. “You don’t know how it is going until you hear it in totality with the other characters, and give the sound and the music. It is difficult to judge for yourself,” Tabu opines.