Is Jyothi the new Chinmayi?

Jyothi Varma, popular for lending her voice to Anushka’s character in Vedam, is back in the news. She has dubbed for Samantha Akkineni in the recent Ram Charan-starrer, Rangasthalam, and has been winning accolades since the film's release on March 30.

Being the daughter of Shanta Maheshwari and Dilip Varma, a family from Polavaram, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, has helped her land the opportunity. Director Sukumar felt she would add authenticity to the character because of her Godavari roots. “My maternal uncle KVB Satyanarayana was the first to suggest a career in the industry through his production house, Saudamini Creations,” she says.

Jyothi says that her father’s friend, a costume designer with a sound knowledge of Telugu film industry dynamics, heard her voice on the phone and asked her to give dubbing a shot. He referred her to the Dubbing Artistes Union which conduct voice tests every two years. She passed the audition with flying colours.

Despite being director-producer YVS Chowdary’s cousin, and coming from a family with a background in the industry, she worked incredibly hard, juggling between her studies and her dubbing career simultaneously. “It’s been 12 years since I started my career and I haven’t looked back since,” she says.

Her breakthrough project was dubbing for Anushka in Vedam. Director Krish, she says, was her pillar of strength and he patiently walked her through the whole process.

She has lent her voice to Rakul Preet in Venkatadri Express and Rarandoi Veduka Chooddam, Deeksha Seth in Rebel, Trisha in Nayaki and Sakshi Chowdary in James Bond and Pragya Jaiswal in Kanche. In Raju Gari Gadi2, she dubbed for two characters – one for Seerat Kapoor and one for Abhinaya which was a challenging process.

Recently, she has dubbed for Malvika Sharma in Ravi Teja-starrer Nela Ticket and she also has Nagarjuna's Officer, in which she’s lent her voice to Myra Sareen, lined up for release.

Giving full credit to her directors, she says, “I will always be thankful to Krish, Sukumar, Kalyan Krishna and all my directors for having so much faith in me and giving me the opportunity to work on such amazing projects.”