MUMBAI: Visually and hearing impaired people in India will now be able to enjoy Aamir Khan’s biggest movie, 'Dangal', as telecast rights holder Zee Entertainment Enterprises has decided to use audio description for the audiences.
Audio description conveys the most important visual aspects of the story by providing commentary during natural pauses and moments of silence. It is voice-over narration that explains what’s happening on the screen, including physical actions made by various characters and other important visual elements. The narration is inserted between lines of dialogue. This Audio Description is recorded and made available as a separate audio track that can be selected by the audience on their remote.
Taking the initiative #ZEEForAll, the Indian media conglomerate has decided to provide audiences with a sensory handicap access to entertainment that is currently enjoyed by millions of Indians with sight.
“Zee Cinema will be the first movie channel in India to premiere a film curated for the visually impaired. It will also have subtitles for the hearing impaired audiences,” said Punit Misra, CEO - Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
“We hope that the premiere of ‘Dangal’ reaches out to the maximum number of visually and hearing impaired audiences in India. We are also exploring adding audio description in other Indian regional languages in the future. Just like Aamir gave us the audio description assets for Dangal, we will reach out to all our content partners requesting for the same as we expand the initiative,” he explained.
While in mature markets like the US it is already mandatory by law for all major networks to offer audio descriptions for the blinds, in India, there’s no such law. In fact, no efforts have been made by any private broadcaster so far despite the country being home to 8 million blind, 54.5 million people with low vision, and 62.6 million people with visual impairment, as per the World Health Organisation 2010 report, which makes India home to the second largest visually challenged population glob ..
On August 15, ZEE will become the first broadcaster in India to premiere ‘Dangal’ with audio description on Zee Cinema. The biggest Bollywood box-office success 'Dangal' is based on the true story of a former Indian national wrestling champion who battles existing social order to train his two young daughters to be world-class contenders in the otherwise male dominated sport of wrestling.
Zee Cinema has also associated with Association for the Visually Impaired, National Association For The Blind (Mumbai, Indore, Chandigarh and Lucknow), National Association For The Blind - The Workshop for the Blind in Mumbai, Institution For The Blind in Delhi and Patiala School of Blind & Deaf in Punjab.
Zee Cinema has hosted preview screenings with audio description and subtitles to sensitise the visually impaired with the technology of audio description and to bring entertainment within their reach.
“I immediately agreed with the idea of premiering ‘Dangal’ with audio description for the visually impaired and it’s a matter of absolute pride to associate with ZEE on this Independence Day premiere of my film,” Khan said.
No comments:
Post a Comment