Anandavally

Anandavally C. R. (14 January 1952 5 April 2019) was an Indian actress and dubbing artist, who predominantly worked in the Malayalam film industry. She has lent voice to over 5,000 characters in over 2,000 Malayalam movies. Anandavally was the woman behind the voice and one of the senior most dubbing artists in Malayalam cinema. In 1993 alone, Ananadavally dubbed for at least 50 films, lending her voice to lead female characters. This continues to remain among the unbreakable records in Malayalam industry. The dubbing artist had given voice to most of Geetha’s characters in almost all the 50 films she acted in Malayalam. Anandavally was the voice of many strong women characters of the 1980s and '90s, including the much-loved character of Clara that actor Sumalatha played in Thoovanathumbikal.

Early life
Anandavally was born into an Tamil family at Veliyam, State of Travancore-Cochin. She did her schooling in "Kaiyela School" - Veliyam, where she began acting in school plays and later started Kadhaprasangam (story-telling performance) at the age of 13.

Drama artist
Anandavally used to sing for dramas even while a teenager. But unexpectedly, her acting skills were put to test in front of a large audience during the drama "Chithalu Kayariya Bhoomi" in 1969. Then she started performing in several dramas of KPAC, Kalidasa Kalakendram, Deshabhimani Theaters-Attingal, Kerala Theaters-Kottayam and Kayamkulam Peoples Theaters.

Radio
She also worked as an announcer in the All India Radio.

Film actress
Her acting career began with Enippadikal (1971). She acted in nearly 50 films till Kaliveedu(1996). Anandavally entered the film industry through the film Kaadu (1973 Malayalam film) and went on to act in below given films. She became interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry following a minor role in various Malayalam films, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue a dubbing artist career.

Dubbing artist
She concentrated more on dubbing. Anandavally was one of the busiest dubbing artists during the golden ‘80s of Malayalam cinema.

In 1973, she debuted as a dubbing artist and gave sound for actress Rajasree in the film Devi Kanyakumari. In Manjil Virinja Pookkal Malayalam film she dubbed for Poornima Jayaram which was the break through. Her dubbing for actress Swapna in movies like Thrishna (1981) and Ahimsa (1981 film), Madhavi (actress) for Novemberinte Nashtam (1982) and Menaka (actress) (for various films including Engane Nee Marakkum (1983), Ambika (actress) (for movies including Rajavinte Makan (1986) and for Geetha (actress) (for films including Panchagni (1986) helped her in securing a prominent place in dubbing.

Thereafter, Anandavally did not look back. She has dubbed for numerous Malayalam films. She gave her voice for several leading heroines, the list as Geetha, Sumalatha, Madhavi, Menaka, Ambika, Urvasi, Jayapradha, Karthika, Parvathy, Gautami, Suhasini, Sobhana, Sukanya, Saritha, Silksmitha, Suchitra, Sarada, Bharathi, Bhanupriya, Rekha, Revathi, Radha, Radhika, Renjini, Mohini, Nanditha Bose, Vinayaprasad, Kanaka, Khushbu, Unni Mary, Santhikrishna and so on. The Kerala State Film Awards for dubbing artist was instituted in 1991 and Anandavally won the award in 1992 for the malayalam film Aadhaaram dubbing for the character Sethulakshmy portrayed by Geetha (actress). In 1993, she dubbed for both Geetha (actress) and Nanditha Bose in the movie Paithrukam.

In several interviews, Ananadavally had said dubbing for Madhavi’s character Annie in the movie Akashadoothu was one of her personal favourites and also dubbing for Sumalatha in Thoovanathumbikal, character "Clara" was also one of her favourites.

Similarly, she was also experimental as she tried out her voice in different dialects including for Bengali actor Lebani Sarkar in the movie Ponthan Mada (1983). While dubbing for Usha Uthup in the movie Pothan Vava (2006) she altered her voice so that it sounded apt for the singer-actor.

Filmography
This list is not complete, these are some of the movies told by my mother from her memory.

Serials

 * Velutha Katrina: Dubbed for actress Sheela (2006)

Awards
Kerala State Film Awards
 * 1992 – Best Dubbing Artist: – Aadhaaram