His next gig is as voice of God
I woke up Wednesday morning to the news that Partap Sharma was no more. Although he had been ill for a number of years, it was still quite a shock. Each time he was rushed to the ICU, he would bounce back stronger than ever. Four years ago, he was given only a few months. And in his own charming, disarming way, he proved modern medicine wrong.
It was the same in his work. Today we are faced with censorship of all sorts from all quarters, particularly in the arts. The Free Tibet banner had to be blurred out of Rockstar, the word ‘Bombay’ had to be bleeped out of another film, A Fine Balance, was withdrawn from the school curriculum, even Shoaib Akhtar was not spared.
But only a handful have stood up, and fought the fight — not for commercial gain, but for the principle of the thing. Partap was one such fighter and it came out when he fought for his play A Touch Of Brightness.
On Thursday as people filed in to pay their last respects, the air was filled with a wonderful timbre of voices. It was only then I realised, that the who’s who of the voice over industry had turned out to bid adieu to a leader of their tribe. Most I knew because they, like Partap, all began in theatre. It was an unexpected tribute to the voice that told a thousand stories, to suddenly have voices telling a thousand stories of him.
Partap was part of an era when actors couldn’t make a living through acting alone. He was astute enough to realise that his voice and the way he spoke were his biggest tools; and he paved the way for hundreds of voice actors since. Furthermore he taught hundreds about voice care and correct voice techniques, and was constantly modifying his techniques as technology improved. For him training was extremely important.
Recently at a meeting with a theatre venue, the venue management expressed their displeasure at how their acoustically excellent venue was not being fully utilised by actors who still needed microphones. The consensus was simple – actors today don’t train their voice as much, since the ‘paying’ mediums of tv and cinema don’t require projection.
Partap Sharma was one of the first people to volunteer his skills to train young actors in 2003 at Thespo 5. His feedback was that we must consistently hold workshops at each festival if we are to build the skill set of young talent.
Over the years Thespo has consistently strived to adhere to his wish. Workshops are now a regular feature, and each year the interactions with different kinds of theatre people get stronger. In addition to workshops in various theatre aspects, this year Red FM has even loaned the festival one of their RJs to conduct a session on how you can use your voice to create On Air characters. Maybe this is the beginning of a new generation of voice actors, treading in Partap’s giant footsteps. Partap Sharma is no more. But his legacy lives on. There is no doubt that his next gig is as the voice of God!
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