Nov 14, 2026 4:00pm IST
‘Ramayana’: Anupam Kher Reveals He Tried Jatayu’s ‘Hey Ram’ Dialogue Nearly 200 Times, Says ‘You Have to Immerse Your Heart and Soul’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Anupam Kher is a seasoned actor, but voicing Jatayu in Nitesh Tiwari’s “Ramayana” presented him with a challenge unlike anything he had encountered before. The actor, who lends his voice to the brave, aging bird in the film, says the emotional demands of the character’s final moments pushed him to approach the performance differently. One particular line, ‘Hey Ram’, required him to experiment with his voice nearly 200 times before arriving at the final take.
In a conversation with Variety India, Kher recalls being overwhelmed when he was first shown footage from the film. The visual effects and the scale of the narration left such an impression on him that he decided to take a break before beginning the dubbing process. “I canceled dubbing on the first day. They showed me 8 to 10 minutes of one of the film’s sequences and I was completely blown away. Then they showed me the Jatayu portions. I said, ‘No, let me just take a break’,” he says.
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For Kher, the difficulty was not simply about matching the visuals. Jatayu’s death comes after an intense confrontation with Ravana (Yash). The mighty bird is left heartbroken because he has failed to rescue Sita (Sai Pallavi). Conveying that pain, alongside the physical exhaustion of an aging bird who has just fought a spectacular battle, required a deeper emotional investment. “He is pained that he could not rescue Sitaji. So all those emotions were very tough,” Kher explains.
The actor also reflects on the importance of challenging himself rather than settling for a competent performance. “It’s a bird who is brave, who is dying, who is old, who has just been in such a spectacular fight with Ravana. So there are some things where you have to involve your soul and heart,” he shares.
Kher worked closely with director Nitesh Tiwari throughout the dubbing sessions, with producer Namit Malhotra also joining one of them. However, unlike conventional dubbing assignments, he did not have an existing performance to refer to. He cited his experience dubbing for the animated film “Up” as a contrast, where he could draw from the original actor’s performance.
Tiwari had a clear emotional direction for the character. He wanted Jatayu and Lord Rama’s relationship to feel personal, making the bird’s inability to save Sita all the more heartbreaking. “Especially the ‘Hey Ram’ in the end… I must have tried that at least 200 times. Because it’s a small line and one has heard it and said it. But the sound and the voice needed to be apt as per the situation,” Kher recalls.
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About the impact of the role, Kher remembers being told about a conversation involving Yash’s son, Yatharv, who questions why his father killed Jatayu. He adds, “The emotional impact can be felt throughout the big fight and the movie at large. Yash’s son told him, ‘Why did you kill this bird?’ This is why it’s important to do a great job.”
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