Dubbed in Dabra

I asked my friend, Datesh, who the favorite movie stars were in his hometown when he was growing up.

"Well, like, same as everybody," he replied.

I expected to hear the 80s names I grew up with: Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, maybe even Morgan Fairchild.

"Oh, you know, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Raymond Burr."

Naturally, I stopped talking at this point. I hoped my face wasn't contorted in some way that meant "you're the craziest person I've ever met."

I tried to decipher Burr's face, wondering whether he would look Indian to an Indian. VHS covers cycled through my mind: A Place in the Sun; Rear Window; Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Datesh interrupted my moment of confusion with an embarrassing "are you okay?"

I answered, "oh, I was just... Why Raymond Burr?"

Datesh educated me. "Think about, `What if TV had, like, 20 actors?' I didn't grow up in California like you. Everything on TV was from 20, 30 years before. We got dubbed shows and the voice actors were all from the city, except Raymond Burr."

It started to make sense. I followed his line of reasoning: "So it would be like if I only got Indian movies, dubbed, and everyone had a British accent except Perry Mason?"

"You got it."

"I get it. So did people just like him on the show, or did they like his movies, too?"
Datesh lit up, unexpectedly. "You should see Love Happy! And--what's it in English--Gorilla Bride?"

I didn't believe there was such a movie as Gorilla Bride. "Do you mean Gorilla at Large?", I asked, being a Raymond Burr fan myself.

"Maybe."