Actress Mithila Palkar voices the teenage superhero Sofia in the Audible India original series Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine. t2 chatted with the talented, fresh-faced actor on her tryst with voice work, her plans to pursue singing as a career and why her heartwarming breakout show Little Things will always remain special.

Your singing posts on Instagram have a lot of fans. You have a beautiful voice. Was doing voice work for Audible India’s Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine a natural progression?

There was no reason to say ‘no’, it is the Marvel Universe that one gets to be a part of. We have all been Marvel fans. This was a new medium for me to explore and also work with fantastic people. I was very happy to jump in.

How big a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are you?

I wouldn’t call myself a crazy fan. If you put me in a room and quiz me, I will obviously fail! But if there is a Marvel film releasing, I will be very happy to watch it.

The best part about voicing Sofia is that this series is based on the comics and not on the films. It is the same universe but differently told. I was glad that nobody had heard her before. So I said: ‘Hey, I can voice this in a new way, she can totally sound like me!’ That was very exciting.

How did you build Sofia in your head?

She is a 16-year-old superhero who is living in the post-apocalyptic world where she is building her own hopeful world. She’s not hoping for somebody else to do that for her. I love that she is naive and yet so badass in her own way.

It was interesting to voice these characteristics. The way she speaks, the way she is, the way she screams, the way she sounds.... What was more interesting is that there was a lot of physical activity. There is walking, jumping, driving.... So all of those kinds of voice modulations were very challenging and interesting to learn from. We were in the very able hands of Mantra (Mantramugdh), who is such a good voice director. It helped to have him in the room to tell me what route I can take to be able to express a certain thing.

Were there any dos and don’ts?

I had to remember that I had no other aid but my voice. The fact that I use my hands a lot to speak in real life was not helpful at all. When we talk, our facial expressions and gestures are so useful... the person out there is seeing what you want to convey. But while doing this, I had to say a lot of things not only through my voice, but also my silences. There was a lot of unlearning to do.

Did you discover anything new about your voice and what you could do with it?

It is very interesting to act for the audio medium because the way you throw your voice will depend on how far you think the other person is standing from you. There is so much voice modulation depending on the movement of your character. It will be at a certain tone when you are jumping from the top and it will be different when you are dropping to the bottom. Even when you fall, your voice has to convey it.

Honestly, initially I didn’t know whether I would be able to do something like that. But now I feel like I have tasted blood to do more of this.

Did the fact that you sing help you in doing this project?

It definitely did because singing involves voice modulation. When you are expressing an emotion through a song, then you modulate your voice in a certain way. Being musically inclined definitely helps to be a voice actor.

Is there a plan to pursue a singing career at some point?

There is no set plan yet. But I hope to do something because I really enjoy singing. If you find me on a set doing nothing, I will definitely be singing. Last year, I did a lot of singing with music influencers. That was a lot of fun because all of them made me record on a microphone, which I am very scared of doing. You can hear yourself so clearly on a microphone and I find that scary! (Laughs) It was fun nonetheless and also challenging.

I don’t call myself a singer, I just love singing. It is a hobby that I like to pursue but I haven’t learnt it enough to call myself a singer. I always say that.

The video of you singing Pherari mon from Antaheen is lovely and your Bengali pronunciation is spot-on. Are you good with picking up languages?

I would like to think so. I don’t know if I am good but I love learning songs in different languages. I feel like it is always easier to learn music in a different language. I also find it to be therapeutic. I sing in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam.... Speaking of languages, I am going to be doing my first-ever Tamil film very soon.

You have done some credible work within a short span of time. Would Kavya of Little Things, which was your first significant role, be the part you are most known for?

Ninety per cent of the time I am recognised as an actor by people for Little Things. It is very special and the show will always be very close to our hearts. It is literally like our baby because we had no acting experience before that, most of us were new even in the other departments.
Little Things was the most significant thing that we did together. I don’t think something like that will happen to us ever again because we started at the ground level and that show has elevated us to where we are today. Now, wherever we go, it will be from here. The experience, that rootedness of Little Things is so sacred and so special. I will always be grateful for it.

Looking back, what do you think worked for it?

The fact that it is a simple show and that made it instantly relatable. Everyone in the audience had experienced some part of the show in their lives. Despite being single, I related to the show (about a live-in couple).

It is a global story. Everybody who is in a live-in relationship goes through these situations and conversations. Dhruv (Sehgal, creator who also played Dhruv, opposite Mithila, in the show) is a lovely writer. The show was about how every couple talks... casual, everyday conversations while they navigate life, love and career in a chaotic city like Mumbai. It was a reflection of everyone’s everyday life. That is what caught on.

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