Satyajit Ray’s voice to be dubbed in AI for ‘Padatik’

Breaking new ground in Bengali cinema, director Srijit Mukherji is set to revolutionise the voice dubbing process in his upcoming film "Padatik", paying homage to the legendary filmmaker Mrinal Sen. 

Scheduled for release on Sen's 101st birth anniversary, the film features Chanchal Chowdhury portraying Sen, with actor Jeetu Kamal reprising Satyajit Ray's role, building on his previous portrayal in Anik Dutta's "Aparajito".

Diverging from conventional dubbing methods, Srijit incorporates AI for Satyajit Ray's voice in a unique process, starting with scratch dubbing and blending it with a sample of Ray's actual voice. 

The Ray family has granted approval for this innovative technique, aligning with the rising popularity of artificial intelligence. Renowned music director AR Rahman similarly employed AI to recreate the voices of late singers Bamba Bankya and Shahul Hameed in Rajnikanth's film "Lal Salaam."

A scene from "Padatik" is already making rounds on social media. In this clip Chanchal Chowdhury, mirroring Mrinal Sen, and Jeetu Kamal, emulating Satyajit Ray, engage in a discussion about their films. However, concerns have been raised about Jeetu's voice in this scene, criticising his voice. The makers aim to remove the flaw by incorporating the AI generated voice.

"Padatik" will spotlight key facets of Mrinal Sen's personal and directorial journey. It's revealed that the movie will delve into the "Calcutta Trilogy", created by Mrinal Sen between 1969 and 1973. Additionally, actors Monami Ghosh and Samrat Chakrabarti play pivotal roles in the film.