Netflix has been in love with ‘RRR‘ since day one. The film has broken records that the streamer’s big films like ‘The Gray Man‘ and ‘Red Notice‘ couldn’t. One of the biggest hits of Netflix internationally, the streamer has recently dubbed the film in English, besides the initial Hindi version it had rights for. With a large part of the world already in love with the film, was this English dub a futile exercise? Let us get deeper into the situation.
The true essence of any movie is best communicated in its original language. Even in the few times when the dub is very well done, it takes away the subtle expressions and nuances which increase the engagement the viewer feels to the film. This is why most movie enthusiasts would rather watch a movie in its original audio with subtitles than a dubbed version.
The ‘RRR’ the world fell in love with on Netflix, was not its original audio but in Hindi, to which it was later dubbed. Even then the dubbing was well done and managed to retain the magic of the film and dialogues. The English dub however is not successful in that regard and has failed. There are several instances where the dub doesn’t fully lend justice to the scene, one of them being the banter between Bheem and Jenny. Even in the much-shared videos of the live audience loving the film in Chinese IMAX theatre in the US, the movie was released with an original Telugu dub, yet the audience can be seen enjoying the watch.
That being said, Netflix’s move is understandable. For a cinema lover, subtitles are not an important factor, while for a normal audience, it may be an issue. There still are people who refuse to watch movies with subtitles because reading the subtitles while watching the film seems to affect their experience of the film. Thinking about that portion of their audience is only natural.
All said and done, was Netflix’s move an unnecessary move? Not necessarily. But it definitely should have been done sooner and not after a large part of the world has seen and enjoyed the film with subtitles.
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