Untouched by sands of time

ROYAL TONE

Ask him about his amazing voice and he merely laughs in his deep baritone. “I’m constantly complimented for my voice. I guess Disney liked my voice too, that’s why I was offered the role,” he is modest. “Prince Of Persia... is one of those epic films about mythic struggles in faraway places. I have given my voice to Nizam, a highly complex and intelligent character, who is pivotal to the story.” Kabir admits it was indeed an honour to dub for Ben. “I thoroughly enjoyed it because firstly, Ben is an awesome actor and secondly, he is a friend.”

The offer to dub came through Leela Ghosh, whom Kabir repeatedly calls as the “queen of the dubbing world”. “I met her when I was dubbing for one of my European series in Hindi,” he says. Kabir admits that dubbing is a complex process. “And when you are dubbing for a great actor in another language, retaining the tone, style and flavour of the character is a big challenge.” Talking of Ben, Kabir says, “Ben is a good friend of mine and I have known him for years.” He even admits that Ben has inspired him the most. “He has set a high standard for actors of Asian origin.”

As someone who has acted in an array of Hollywood projects like Octopussy (A James Bond film) and The Bold And The Beautiful, and Bollywood biggies like Khoon Bhari Maang and Main Hoon Na, Kabir feels that Bollywood and Hollywood are “different ballgames altogether”. “I wish more films like Prince Of Persia... were made in India. It’s a really good story about a Hollywood hunk and youngsters, in particular, will like it.”

Though he doesn’t speak much about his upcoming projects, he is working in many interesting films — Hrithik Roshan-starrer Kites, Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon opposite Zeenat Aman and an untitled Tigmanshu Dhulia film with Govinda, to name a few. “I have a powerful role in Kites,” he reveals. “It was wonderful working in it, and we shot in America.” But is all the hype surrounding the film worth it? Definitely, he feels. “It’s a really good film and it works on all levels.” He is all shy on being asked about his fan following. “I really can’t blow my own trumpet. In a career spanning 30 years, I think the biggest fan following I’ve ever had has been in Europe. Plus there are Bond fans and The Bold And The Beautiful fans. So whenever a fan comes to me, the first thing I ask him or her is ‘Where are you from?’ So that I know which work of mine have they seen,” he laughs.