Exclusive: Wolverine to Ravan, Sharad Kelkar on voice acting and all he gave up for Marvel's Wastelanders role

Voice acting is a real thing now, ask Indian actor Sharad Kelkar who had the time of his life doing a gig for Audible as he partnered with them for Marvel’s Wastelanders series for a new season on Wolverine. The latest season of the Wastelanders series had Sharad Kelkar essay the role of one of the most powerful yet humble characters Wolverine in a story of grief, shame and revenge.

Rooting from the MCU world, Wastelanders tells a new story of some powerful superheroes coming together in a future time after being brutally battered and broken post an apocalyptic event when most superheroes have perished. Sharad stars in the Hindi version of Audible’s Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine series. In an exclusive interview, Sharad Kelkar spoke about his excitement of playing the hunky Wolverine, everything he had to give up to ace the voice of Wolverine and internalising the struggles of such a popular Marvel character to make it sound real for the Hindi audiences.

Here are the edited excerpts of our chat:

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Q: You voice Ravan in The Legend of Hanuman season 4, and you bring Wolverine to life in the Hindi adaptation of Marvel’s Wastelanders. How was working on Wastelanders different from others?

A: Most of us have heard about the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), we know the characters but this is different. This is a new series called Wastelanders and the fourth part of it is based on Wolverine. This season tells the story of Wolverine and it is set in a dystopian future – 30-40 years since V-Day (V-Day means most of the superheroes have died, and there are four or five remaining, and one of them is Wolverine, and he is, you know, under a guilt that he couldn't save his friends and other mutants). So, to begin with, to explain to our Indian audiences, it's a great initiative by Audible to record it in Hindi.

As for me, I'm very happy because Wolverine is one of my favourite characters, and I got a chance to voice for him – not just dub but act. I normally call it voice acting. It was a lovely experience. It was a new story for me, something I had not read before. I could bring in the creativity, and modulate since he’s now depicted as older, so I could have fun giving it a new voice.

It was fun experience on the sets because everyone was friends with each other. The artistic director Mantra Mugdh is also a very close friend. So, the atmosphere was very happy and funny.

Also because it was Wolverine – a powerful character with claws and all, so when the platform approached me for it, I was ready and very excited about it. But it wasn’t all a play because Wolverine carries with him the image of a wolf so to enact that, I had to give my voice a break. I would dub for one day and then take a two-day break. I had to deepen my voice so it took a lot more effort than dubbing for anything else but I can’t complain.

Q: How did you get into the character?

A: When you think of Wolverine, you create an image of a strong man with a gruffy and heavy voice who means business. I pictured just that. I’m glad people liked my Wolverine.

Q: How does an actor get through to the audience via audio platforms without the help of visual cues? Is voice acting more difficult?

A: I indulged myself in masala chai which our art director Mantra would provide. I would dub for two hours and then take a break because voice acting like Wolverine took a lot of effort. Since Wastelanders is about an old and down-in-the-dumps superhero, I wanted to put more effort into making him sound gruffier. So every day was tough but that masala chai helped.

Q: Wolverine must have been a difficult character to ace. Were there any aspects of the character you found compelling to portray in a podcast format?

A: There were a lot of things actually. He is guilty of not saving his friends. Plus, he's fighting the evil team including Crossbone and Red Skull. Then he meets Sophia, played by Mithila Palkar in the Hindi series. He has a past with Jean also. So there are a lot of personal complications he has to deal with. There is a lot of trauma, dilemma and emotional breakdowns through the length of his story. Since we don't have a visual to support the story, we have to create that with our voice.

Q: With this Hindi series adapted from a widely acclaimed English-language show, was there any particular challenge you had to overcome while working on this?

A: In India, I feel there is too much influence of the English language on Gen-Z. I see with my daughter how kids in the metros are not in touch with Hindi while the language is a great medium for entertainment. Since Marvel's Wastelanders is a huge deal, we have grown up on Marvel comics and now we have a Hindi series. It’s a great starting point for kids around the ages of 13-14 to listen to Hindi content. There’s so much available in genres of science fiction and action in Hindi now.

Q: Since podcasts are getting extremely famous these days, how do you see the role of voice actors evolving in the future?

A: It's a great time for all voice actors because when people don't have time to sit at home and watch something on TV or go to a theatre, this is what they can tune into. Too much of an audio-visual medium also takes away your creativity and your imagination. People used to read books, and they could visualise stories but reading requires for you to be in a silent place. Here is where podcasts fill the gap. You can hear them on the go and visualise your own stories. It's a great medium for voice actors, voiceover artists, and all actors in general.

Q: What's next in the pipeline Sharad?

A: Next I have a film called Srikanth which will be released in May. Then there is a film called Nayeka which will be released in the next few months. I love working. I try to choose different kinds of roles and different mediums. So exciting days, an exciting year for me and my viewers.