Mumbai: Playback singer Aditya Narayan will be voicing the lead character in the Hindi dubbed version of live-action/animated musical comedy Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, the makers announced Thursday.
The movie is based on the best-selling children’s book series of the same name by Bernard Waber.
The English film, directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon from a screenplay by William Davies, has pop star Shawn Mendes voicing the lead character of Lyle.
Narayan said voicing an animated character was both challenging and rewarding experience.
“Music is a universally loved language. And while singing is my forte, this has been immensely challenging and rewarding at the same time. This is simply because voicing an animated singing character is wildly different from singing for a film or a music album.
“Here, I needed to really understand the character as a three-dimensional being who feels and emotes, and I was the voice that conveyed every nuance of this character’s life, love and struggles. It was literally voice acting,” the singer said in a statement.
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“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” follows the Primm family who moves to New York City. Their young son Josh (Winslow Fegley) struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All that changes, when he discovers Lyle – a singing crocodile (Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music-living in the attic of his new home.
“The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbour Mr Grumps (Brett Gelman), the Primm’s must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P Valenti (Javier Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality,” according to the official synopsis read.
Shony Panjikaran, General Manager and Head at Sony Pictures Releasing International, said they are delighted to have Narayan on board as the Indian voice for Lyle, one of the most classic characters in the world.
“When we heard Aditya singing to Lyle’s tunes, we knew it was the perfect fit because there was a certain sense of vulnerability that reflects through his voice that is the very essence of Lyle’s character,” Panjikaran said.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile will feature original songs performed by Mendes and written by Oscar-winning writer duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Sony Pictures Entertainment India’s film will release across theatres in India November 4 in English and Hindi.