‘Mein Samay Hun….’, the iconic voice of Harish Bhimani has become a household name since the telecast of B R Chpora’s mega serial ‘Mahabharat’ in 1988. At the beginning of every episode, Bhimani’s magical voice set the mood of audience. Since then the writer-anchor has been acknowledged as most celebrated voice over artiste in the country. He was conferred the prestigious President’s Medal in National Film Award in 2016. Bhimani, who started his career as a television news reader, has made almost 22,000 recordings including voice to corporate films, TV and radio commercials, music albums, feature films and hosted a number of public events. Even at the age of 72, his voice has not lost its shine.
The Odishabytes team had a brief interaction with Bhimani while he was in Bhubaneswar to attend the three-day Kalinga Literary Festival.
Q- How did ‘Samay’ happen to you? Did you know it will become history?
A- I was the busiest voice-over artiste when BR Chopra and his team called me. I did not know anything about the character. I was given a script and they asked me to record. I read it like I do for a documentary which they did not like. Then they made me understand that the voice is for something unseen and unknown but not of the God. It was difficult for me to understand as they did not want to disclose the project. They told me ‘awaaz aapki lekin andaaz alag chahiye’. After three sessions, I decided to read the script like never before and that clicked.
Q-Why do you think they chose your voice for the iconic character?
A-I never typecasted my voice. They had a thorough research of my work before calling me to the studio. They felt my voice is mouldable. They were searching for a new style which created history.
Q-What was the response when the serial was telecast?
A-The telecast time of ‘Mahabhrat’ was 9 am. Usually I do not get up by that time. After 12-13 episodes, my family and friends started praising my work. They felt I have done something great after which I realised the importance of my character in the serial.
Q-What inspired you to write the biography of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar?
A-I was anchoring most of the music shows of many celebrated singers across the country and abroad. When I joined Lataji, I came to know her personality and stories behind each of her song. While compering on stage, I never directly announced the song rather connect an incident or related a shayari which Lataji liked very much. Being travelled with her to 21 countries and performing 123 shows in 14 years, I decided to write her biography ‘In Search of Lata Mangeshkar’. It took me 28 years to complete the biography.
Q-What would be your advice to the voice artiste to impress the audience?
A-Clarity while speaking is the first key to connect. That will come as much one takes care of the vocal chords. Chanting Sanskrit hymns is the best way to make the voice muscles free and flexible. Then picking up any language will not be difficult. There is some technical guidance on phonetics which can be practiced. Every voice artiste must take a 15-minute nap after lunch.
