Pros and cons of dubbing
                                                          
Dubbing as a translation practice is more common in European countries like Germany, Italy and Spain. Baker and Hochel point out that there are advantages and disadvantages to this activity. The major drawback is that it is very expensive when compared to subtitling. It results in lack of authenticity as it replaces the original with a translated dialogue. This might appear very awkward as it retains the original settings and characters – for example, think of Spiderman conversing in Hindi. Besides, it will only have a few dubbing artistes to represent a wide array of original characters. It also deprives the audience of an opportunity to listen to the source language and get a feel for its cadence and tone. Baker is of the view that the standard of English is higher in countries that tend to have subtitles (Scandinavian countries) rather than those like Germany which tend to dub films.

But the most important problem facing the translator is the necessity to maintain some element of lip synchronization in the dubbed version. The translator will have to come up with similarly articulated words, a near impossibility if the languages are completely different, like English and Tamil. Lack of lip synchronization becomes obvious only in close-ups, but then a piece of dubbed dialogue can look very incongruous if there is no synchronization.

On the other hand, a dubbed film will be able to retain the full text of the dialogue, without having to edit it in any way. Subtitles can be confusing for the viewer who has to divide her attention between the visual and the subtitles that appear at the bottom of the screen. It is easier for even illiterate persons to follow the dialogue in the case of dubbed films. As Baker and Hochel point out, the advantages and disadvantages of dubbing are equally convincing, and there are a host of factors that leads a particular film industry to resort to either dubbing or subtitling. “These factors include cost, availability of relevant technology, standard of literacy, interest in foreign languages, degree of cultural openness, and the strength of the local film industry” (75). The reason why Hollywood films get dubbed into Hindi or Tamil despite the cost factor must be the huge market it is aiming at. It is interesting to note that not all Hollywood movies are dubbed – only those that have the elements of being crowd pullers have Hindi or Tamil versions. Movies like Titanic, Spiderman or Jurassic Park were known for their special effects rather than subtlety of characterization or dialogues. It is also noteworthy that movies get dubbed only into languages that can boast of a significantly huge viewership, like Hindi or Tamil and not Malayalam or Assamese.