Meet the voice you hear before your call connects

Meet the voice you hear before your call connects

JASLEEN BHALLA, A VOICE-OVER ARTIST FOR 10 YEARS, FEELS NONE OF HER PREVIOUS GIGS WAS AS IMPORTANT

Rohan.Dua@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:11.06.2020

For crores of Indians, Jasleen Bhalla is now a familiar voice, her smooth tone audible as soon as you dial any number on your cell phone: “Coronavirus se aaj poora desh lad raha hai, yaad rahe humain bimari se ladna hai, bimaar se nahi (The entire country is fighting against coronavirus, but remember we have to fight the disease, not the patient)."

On Tuesday, the 40-yearold from Delhi who lent her voice to the now-iconic caller tune told TOI that she was as surprised as the rest of us when her message first started playing on cell phones. “I had actually recorded the message for a production house in the last week of March, I didn’t know it was meant for a public campaign. Now I can’t help but feel a certain sense of pride whenever I hear it,” said Bhalla, as she sat in her flat in Alaknanda which doubles up as her office, equipped with soundproof windows and acoustic foam mounted on walls.

“It’s here that I recorded the voice-over,” said the English graduate from Delhi University’s Khalsa College, who has since recorded the same message in English and Punjabi as well. “Each time the Indian Council of Medical Research updates its information, I have to record a fresh voiceover like the time they changed social distancing norms from two feet to six feet.”

Bhalla has been a voiceover artist for 10 years and her services have been used by Delhi Metro, SpiceJet and IndiGo among others. In fact, it’s Bhalla’s voice guiding you to the right door during peak hours on Delhi Metro — “The doors will open on your left, please mind the gap”.

But she admits that none of her previous gigs felt as important as her latest one. “My family knows it’s me on the other end of the cell phone so in a way it has made them more cautious about following guidelines, wearing masks and using sanitisers.”

Bhalla was told pre-recording that the message needed a responsible tone, it had to push people to follow norms. “That came easy for me. I’m the child of an Army officer, I was taught discipline and responsibility at a young age,” said Bhalla, adding that she herself has only stepped out of the house twice in the last two months.

VOICE OF CORONA TUNE: The artist recorded her voice from her flat

JASLEEN BHALLA SAYS

I had actually recorded the message for a production house in the last week of March, I didn’t know it was meant for a public campaign