Amaidhiyo Amaidhi: How Raghuvaran became the 'Tamil' voice of Shin Chan 

Dubbing artist Raghuvaran, the voice behind the Tamil version of the popular manga character Shin Chan tells us how much viral popularity dubbing for the series has brought for him
Raghuvaran P dubbed the voice of shinchan, a character in Japanese manga series was aired from 2008 to 2013
Raghuvaran P dubbed the voice of shinchan, a character in Japanese manga series was aired from 2008 to 2013

Remember Shin Chan? Aired from 2008 to 2013, this Japanese manga series, that follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara, was quite popular among kids, especially the ones in Tamil Nadu. Now, a few years later, the series seems to be making a comeback, but this time in Tamil with popular dialogues like, "Amaidhi, Amaidhi! Amaidhiyo Amaidhi!" and the cheese bread rhyme.

Now, most youngsters usually mock dubbed cartoons and even movies, especially those in Chinese and Japanese, but for reasons unknown to us, people seem to be fascinated by this dubbed version of the cartoon. But would you believe us if we told you that the person behind the voice of the five-year-old is not an actual five-year-old, but a 33-year-old man?

Meet Tamil dubbing artist, Raghuvaran, who has been in this field for about 20 years. And it doesn't surprise us that this talent runs in his blood. Growing up in that environment and following in the footsteps of his father, who has lent his voice to popular old heroes, made it easy for this school dropout to choose a career for himself. Aside from Shin Chan, Raghuvaran had also worked on a few famous projects including Ben 10 and Science of Stupid.

Unlike movies, in cartoons it is the dubbing artist's creativity to make the character powerful, because movies already have the character framed, but here it's different

Raghuvaran, Dubbing Artist



Talking about the reactions he has garnered on Facebook, he says, "Dubbing artists are always the ones behind the screen. They are mostly faceless, but the love that people have shown for this cartoon makes me happy," he says and adds, "After seeing the reactions of people on Facebook, I once thanked one of the followers from the page and that is how people started recognising me."

Age at which Raghuvaran started dubbing. Raghuvaran was born and brought up in a family where his father and mother were also dubbing artists


But how does a man in his 30s sound so much like a child without the use of voice modulation software? "In this field, there is only one thing that will help you survive — versatility. I have been working as the voice of a 5-year-old in Shin Chan and also as a 50-year-old in another dubbed serial. You have to be careful about your pronunciation," he says, adding, "Initially, I was clueless about what to do for the first 20 episodes, after which I began to relate things to my childhood. After that, I got the grip of this character, which made it easier for me." 

I'm happy that a cartoon character is being recognised by people because of my voice
Raghuvaran, Dubbing Artist



Now that more and more people know who he is, we wonder if there have been any unforgettable incidents. He lets out a little chuckle and replies, "Some people don't even believe that it is me who dubs for that cartoon. I think that only sound engineers and technicians probably know the truth.”

Shin Chan has slowly begun to gather a steady fan following. Not just on Facebook, but now, some brands have also started selling T-shirts, phone cases and the like with some of the character's iconic dialogues that he framed for the cartoon. Now that's something that isn't very common for a dubbing artist!

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