A growing number of Indonesians have discovered their passion for voice acting. 

Newcomers have been flooding the world of voice-over. Some regard it only as a hobby or a side hustle at best. Others have jumped in fully, making voice talent their main source of income (and fun). 

Fathimah "Ifa" Nur Shadrina, better known online as Ifa Shadrina and @va_voice on Instagram, gained popularity early in the pandemic with a voice-over parody of a scene from one of Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan's movies.

In the parody, Ifa voiced the role of Astuti, who is leaving her lover Paul. Astuti is heading home to buy canned milk in bulk, hoping to sell them in the city where the price for milk has skyrocketed. The video became viral overnight, gaining the 31-year-old 20,000 followers. Ifa said she did not expect the video to be shared so many times.

"I don't understand how the video could become so viral. It was really beyond my expectation.”

Change course: Ifa Shadrina was ready to let go of her acting dream when she started wearing a niqab but found a new light as a professional voice talent. (Courtesy of Ifa Shadrina) (Personal Collection/Courtesy of Ifa Shadrina)

Unexpected catalyst

Ifa now wears a niqab. She does not want to show herself as much anymore. However, she finally found a way to continue her passion for the entertainment world, namely in the form of voice acting.

"At first, I was more interested in dubbing [because I like acting]," she explained.

Ifa is also available for advertising projects now. She said she had been involved in a project for a lamp, as well as a sanitary napkin brand.

"For dubbing, I have been involved in kids' animated shows on YouTube," she said, mentioning Hoala & Koala and BeaBeo as the examples of projects her voice has appeared in. She explained that the projects require her to learn how to sing, noting that voice talents who can sing get paid more than those who cannot.

"I really couldn’t sing. Among my siblings, I was the least talented in terms of singing. Apparently, however, when you force yourself to do something, you will eventually be able to do it," she explained. "If you think learning a set of skills will earn you money, then you better do it.

"I entered the world of voice acting around two years ago, early into the pandemic. Maybe around May 2020. Actually, I had wanted to be a voice talent and dubber for longer than that, but I didn't know where to start.

"At the beginning of the pandemic, however, I was forced to stay home just like everyone else. Then, when I was lazing around scrolling Instagram, I stumbled upon Bimo Kusumo Yudo's Instagram account [@bimoky], a prominent voice talent whose voice we frequently hear in advertisements on TV. As it turned out, there were communities and classes for voice acting."

She then discovered that she was not the only one interested at that time. Many people suddenly flocked to the industry as she joined its communities and enrolled in voice acting classes.

"Then I also started making parodies while practicing for the classes," she explained.

Similarly, Isna also began her voice-over journey in 2021 during the pandemic.

"I took a voice-over challenge from MRT Jakarta, acting as an announcer. I didn't win that time. So, I joined more challenges on social media. Later, several schools requested that I narrate their profile videos," the 28-year-old, who is on Instagram as @isnavoice, explained.

Isna doesn't get as many job offers as Ifa, which might be due to the differences in their approach to voice acting. While Ifa sees the voice acting world as her full-time job, receiving a paycheck of up to Rp 7.5 million (US$521.98) per 15-45 seconds of her voice, Isna sees voice acting as a hobby and a side job, claiming that she is not interested in making it her primary source of income.

Isna is a preschool teacher, and she said she wanted to "be a professional voice talent and join voice talent communities, but I will not leave my current job". That being said, she added that she wished to use her voice acting talent to narrate profile videos for companies, brands and products.

The two also differ in their perceptions of the job. While Ifa sees doing voice-over for a brand or product as being different from but is still within the same category as dubbing for movies, series and the likes, Isna believes the two are not the same. 

"I am interested in dubbing [for movies and series], but I haven't tried anything like that so far," Isna explained.

Ifa, on the other hand, claimed dubbing for movies and series to be her main interest, saying, "I have always liked acting. When I was a student, I used to participate in theatrical shows."

The beginning: Isna started her career doing a voice-over challenge from MRT Jakarta. (Courtesy of Isna) (Personal Collection/Courtesy of Isna)

Future talent

Ifa also has hopes for her daughter to join the industry. Her elementary school-aged daughter Aqiilah, on Instagram as @aqiilahaura, is frequently featured in her parodies on Instagram. The mother-daughter duo extends their partnership into the professional realm.

"She was curious about what I was doing," Ifa said. "I also used to bring her to the studio and meet my clients. Then we joined an audition for a kids' animation series on YouTube, a long-term project. Both of us were apparently chosen as the cast for the project. Since then, I have also acted as my daughter's voice director.

"It requires extra patience to direct your own daughter, but she seems to enjoy it. So, I began bringing her more. She ended up meeting big names such as the voice behind Suneo [from the children's show Doraemon]. Then, alhamdulillah [praise be to God], she was chosen as the dubbing cast for a movie shown on Netflix.”

Ifa and Isna share the view that voice talents play an increasingly important part in society.

"In this digital era, voice talents are the frontrunners in the world of marketing and entertainment," Isna said. "I think the existence of voice talents is extremely important." 

Ifa said: "They make a video or a movie feel alive. It is obvious that voice talents are needed in dubbed movies and series. In other fields, such as advertisements, the presence of voice talents is still important. Suppose you watch an advertisement video without a narrating voice, it would feel bland, wouldn't it? When our voice enters the scene, it helps make the video feel spectacular."

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