Recently, The Times of India presented the prestigious Times Power Woman Award to Mona Shetty, one of India’s leading voice artistes, voice coaches and localisation specialists. When Mona lent her voice to a child artist at the age of five, little did she know that her voice would echo across movie halls and television screens around the world.
Forty years and hundreds of TV commercials, radio spots, films, web and television series, anime, documentaries and audiobooks later, Mona is one of the most sought-after voice directors by leading Bollywood and Hollywood studios.
She has been the voice for several leading actresses in Bollywood and the Hindi voice for many Hollywood leading ladies. Though a trained singer, dancer and actor, Mona chose to pursue a career in voice-overs, which was her true calling. She is now the President of Sound & Vision Studios, one of India’s oldest and largest dubbing companies servicing local and global markets. With a repertoire of over 15 languages, their dubbing credits include scores of Hollywood films, TV shows and web series. They also record IVRs, audiobooks, nursery rhymes, children’s stories and interactive games and songs for various platforms.
Their recent credits include Netflix’s Sacred Games, Ghoul and Little Things in English for international audiences; Amazon’s Breathe and Mirzapur; Hindi films like Thugs of Hindostan, Bajirao Mastani, Padmavatin Tamil and Telugu for the South; English films like The Jungle Book, Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool in Hindi; and audiobooks for Audible. Her contribution to the voice industry has put Indian dubbing on the global entertainment map. The company also trains aspiring actors and voices in the art of voice modulation and voice acting.
As a voice coach, Mona understands how difficult it is for newcomers to enter the industry. This has prompted her to launch The Voice Directory, a platform that is the need-of-hour for the industry. The app for Android and IOS users will spotlight the talent of voice artistes, both budding and established. It will be a space where they can post their work, ideate and collaborate. With this initiative, Mona aims to give an industry that always works behind the scenes, the frontline recognition it deserves.