MIMICRY

Mimicry is an age-old art. The first mimicry artist might have been a caveman, who copied animal voices to keep them away. In Ramayana, when Rama chased Maricha  who was in the guise of the golden deer, Maricha shouted to attract Lakshmana in imitation of Rama's voice. In Mahabharata, Bhima used this art to entice and eliminate the villain Keechaka. Mimicry artiste should specialize in the imitation of voices.

It is broadly of two kinds: 

• imitation of the manner of people's speaking; 
• and reproduction of mannerisms, gestures, characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the concerned persons.

Imitation should cover the voice as well as gestures. Synchronised reproduction of both the features will have the highest entertainment value for the audience. The items of mimicry should be brief, as it is a solo show. Mimicry comprises imitation of public figures, actors, actresses, singers, birds, animals, and sound of music instruments, airplane, scooter, siren, car, motor bike, Rail engine, telephone, etc. 

Well-known Indian artists in mimicry are: Sunil Pal, Anup and Sadhan of Kolkata, Neralla Venumadhav and Srinivos of Hyderabad, Dilip Khanna, Nitin,  Johny Lever, Navin Prabhakar of Mumbai, Gopadkar of Mangalore, Bhagwat Mann of Chandigarh, Dr.George Mathew Purayidom of Kerala, etc. 

The comedian Johnny Lever and the singer Sudesh Bhonsle are also famous as mimicry artists. Potti Sriramulu Telugu University of Hyderabad runs a 1-year diploma course on mimicry. Mimicry is needed for puppetry, since any object, used as a puppet, would need different voice patterns for animation. The mimicry artists like me have been pressing for recognition of their art as most have spent decades perfecting their skills in not just mimicking but also creating lines that have people in splits. Attempts by the State to remove human stress through this art are no doubt laudable.

Read my other Articles

Voice Dubbing

Mimicry & Voice Dubbing as an Alternate Career

Acting v/s Voice Dubbing

How to become a Voice Artiste

How to improve your Voice

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