Bhuvan Bam on stepping into Jaaved Jaaferi’s shoes for Takeshi’s Castle: ‘Always had him in the back of my mind while dubbing’ | Web-series News
4 min readContent creator and actor Bhuvan Bam is the voice of the new season of Takeshi’s Castle. The popular 90s Japanese show made a comeback on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday, with Bhuvan’s character Titu Mama being the ‘funny’ narrator. As readers would know, actor-comedian Jaaved Jaaferi was earlier the voice of the show, which also helped him gain massive fandom among the younger generation.
Sharing that Takeshi’s Castle was one of his favourite shows while growing up, Bhuvan said that they would rush back home to watch it after school. He added that it was one of the first reality shows and given its ‘unique’ format, everyone was hooked on to it. When asked about his reaction when the makers came to him with the offer, he smiled to say that he was ‘smiling, then being nervous, and smiling again’.
“Honestly, I did not know how to react. It was such a big opportunity for me to have one of my characters on the show. Also, I wanted to ensure that I do justice to Jaaved sir’s legacy. Be it the dialogues or jokes, I always had him at the back of my mind. I would keep wondering how would he say it. On the other hand, I also wanted to make sure that Titu Mama has his own appeal. He is a very different person and has a hatke outlook toward life. I am not trying to be someone, but I will compensate with all my hard work and capacity. I hope it translates well and people like it,” he told indianexpress.com.
When we asked Bhuvan if he reached out to Jaaved before dubbing, the content creator-actor said, “No I didn’t as I had a lot on my plate. I wanted to watch all the episodes of the new season so that I could proceed with the script. I also had a concern that people who haven’t watched BB Ki Vines (his vlogs) or don’t know what I do, would not find it familiar. Titu Mama also talks differently and boasts a lot about him so we wrote it accordingly. So I wanted to jump quickly into work.”
Ever since Bhuvan Bam‘s name was announced as the voice of Takeshi’s Castle, a section of the audience was not happy. Having grown up with Jaaved Jaaferi on Takeshi’s Castle, they felt that the young content creator was not suited for it. As we are yet to see how Bhuvan has done in the new season, we wondered if he felt the backlash was unfair toward him. To our surprise, he replied, “Honestly, it’s natural. Main hota toh main bhi bolta (If it was on me, I would have said the same).”
Bhuvan added that he wouldn’t have dared to take it up but given it was a dream, he did not want to let go of the offer. “I wanted to be part of that nostalgia. I wanted to dub for it. Anyone in my place would have also grabbed it with both hands. I know many were not happy but all these years, people have given me love. Some may not like it but I can confidently say that I have given too much time and effort to make it worthwhile.”
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90s kids have loved Takeshi’s Castle but given the plethora of content available for audiences now, we asked Bhuvan Bam whether the younger generation would be able to connect with the show. “See, it’s a bizarre show, so they would love it. The new generation would have a different take on it. Also, we have a variety of audiences, be it population or age group, so there’s something for everyone. Apart from the nostalgic value, Titu Mama will keep everyone entertained.”
Talking about why he picked Titu as the voice for Takeshi’s Castle, Bhuvan said, “He is more appealing than me. I have the stats that before I introduced Titu Mama, the age group of my followers were different. But when he arrived, the numbers went 20 years ahead. Mama is also a very peculiar person, who can get away with anything, that wouldn’t have happened with other characters.”
On a final note, Bhuvan Bam, who started his YouTube career eight years ago, said that he had envisioned his career just like this. From the internet to acting, the 29-year-old said he wanted it to be at the same pace. Bhuvan added that however there’s still a long way for him to go. He also shared how he hasn’t yet seen his ‘biggest achievement’ and would only talk about it once he’s seen it.