Exclusive: Sharad Kelkar Talks About His Character 'Wolverine' In Marvel's Wastelanders

In an exclusive interview with Pop Diaries, Bollywood actor Sharad Kelkar talks about his audio series  Marvel's 'Wastelanders'. The sixth and final season of the Hindi Audible Original series has released on March 12. In the series, Kelkar gives his voice to the popular Marvel character- Wolverine.

The series has been released. How are you feeling about it? Are you nervous or excited about the response?

We've been working on this project for the last two years. There are five or six individual series focusing on different characters of this world, and now the final battle is here. So, everyone is excited and eager to listen to it. It's an interesting world that Audible has created, with each character having their own past, pain, and sorrows. Now, they are all teaming up to fight the ultimate villain. It's a high-octane action podcast, and I'm looking forward to listening to it myself. I haven’t heard it yet, but I plan to take some time out to do so. Each character has already built a strong fan base through their individual series. Doctor Doom, who was a villain earlier, is now teaming up with superheroes, which makes it even more intriguing. The cast, including Saif, Kareena, Jaideep, and Ashish, is incredible. Plus, we have an ultimate villain, Yashaswini, who has done a brilliant job.

What was it like to play 'Wolverine, since he has such strong fanbase, and how did you prepare for it?

Preparing for Wolverine meant understanding his age, his pain, and his history. He carries deep scars and experiences, which I had to bring out through my performance. As an actor, I didn’t just rely on my voice but fully embodied the character. If you see my recording sessions, you’ll notice how physically engaged I was in delivering his lines. It's more of acting rather than just saying lines. I'm a huge fan of Wolverine, so I was honored when Audible gave me this chance to play him, because he is my favourite Marvel character. I’ve added my own style to him. You can’t just dub a character; you need to add new things to new characters. Wolverine has a comic streak, sharp one-liners, and anger, and his reactions are interesting he is very blunt, he is wild guy, so it was very interesting.

You’ve done voice acting before. How was this role different from your previous experiences?

Most of my past work involved dubbing over existing visuals—either my own performances or someone else's. But here, I had to imagine everything and convey it through my voice. It should reach the audience so they can also visualise, it should create an immersive experience for all the listeners, and that has been taken care of here. The production quality, sound mixing, and background score are top-notch. Audible will never create a mediocre product, and that’s why this series has such a strong lineup of artists. Audible got all of us together, someone might consider it impossible to get so many stars for one project, but Audible has done it. The series has all of industry’s talented voice actors, as many side characters as well, making it the biggest series. And when you are listening, it is fun to identify which actor’s voice is being heard. The response has been overwhelming! It’s amazing to see people’s reactions on social media. As actors, it’s a great feeling when our work resonates with the audience.

How was the transition from on-screen acting to voice acting for you?

Voice acting is a liberating experience. On camera, you have visual aids, sets, and props or even co actors, to support your performance. But in voice acting, you just have a studio and a mic, everything depends on your imagination. For example, if I have to show you a weight of an object, it can shown on camera, but for voice acting, I have to imagine everything and express through my voice. I had to create Wolverine entirely in my mind and bring him to life just through my voice. It’s a unique and rewarding process, allowing me to connect with the character on a deeper level. It is a unique experience of creating a character solely through voice. It was definitely challenging, but also fun experience. Every actor should try voice acting— because when you having nothing to work with, and you have to act while sitting or standing through just one room, it’s an excellent exercise for honing one's craft.

Do you have a favorite voice acting role so far?

This one, definitely! In most films or series, you have visual references to guide your performance. But Wastelanders is set in a futuristic world where we had to imagine everything from scratch. Visualising is also an interesting process, you have to design a world by yourself, so when audience is listening, they are get immersed in this world. Conveying that through voice alone, supported by background music and sound effects, was an incredible experience.

Marvel is such a massive franchise. How was it working with them?

 It was incredible! We collaborated with some of the biggest creatives in the world—Amazon, Audible, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has been a feather in my cap

If You had to Play Any Other Marvel Character, who would it be?

I think Deadpool would be an interesting role for me. My personality is very much like Deadpool’s.

You have been involved in Films, Television, OTT and even Voice Acting, is there any favourite Medium?

I just like acting, medium is not the focus. If I like the character and the story, then medium doesn’t matter, and I have proved it through my acting. In 15 years of my career, I have done about 40 films, 5 series, dubbed 15-18 films, 3 Tv shows, so it has been a little bit of everything. And it is important for an actor, the more he works, the more he learns and grows.

Lastly, can you share any details about your upcoming projects?

There is this initiative taken by Anant Ambani- Vantara, there is some voice acting project related to that. I have a project releasing in December, and there are 2  films releasing in June and September.