Around 200-250 film and TV artistes are doing voiceovers to animation characters - from Ravana, to an evil ant to playing narrator to Alibaba or even to a rich spoilt dog. Collectively, these artistes are involved in over 25-30 animation film projects slated for release in the next six years worth somewhere around Rs 250-300 crore. However, compared to Hollywood where they spend millions, in India budgets are modest. According to estimates, between 5 to 6 per cent of a film's total budget is being spent on the art of voicing.

Says Mahesh Manjrekar, who has done his first voiceover for Elecom Fiesta Entertainment's ‘Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang’ budgeted at Rs 4 crore, "Money did not play a role in my decision in being a voiceover for the character of an evil ant. Animation is an altogether different experience that is to lend one's voice to characters who do not talk in the real world. I found giving a voiceover offers much more ease while performing compared to a live action film."

Lending one's voice for animation films involves a lot of money. Says producer N.D. Nagpal, "Aanjjan Srivastava charged Rs. 25,000 per day for my ‘Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang’ while Mahesh Manjrekar charged as much as Rs. 1 lakh per day and he finished his work in seven days." It is reported that Akshay Kumar, his wife Twinkle and their son, while doing voiceover for an upcoming film ‘Jumbo’, charged as much as Rs 4.5 crores.

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