TEHRAN -- The director of the Iranian dubbing team, Alireza Bashkandi, is convinced that the popularity of the South Korean TV series Jumong lies behind the fact that it is produced and dubbed with love.

Jumong is currently being aired on Iran’s TV channel 3 and has found great popularity among Iranian viewers.
Bashkandi, who dubs the voice of the character Jumong, says that part of its great success is quality dubbing, and that this is the first Korean TV series he has worked as its dubbing manager.
“Among East Asian productions, the Korean ones are generally simpler. But due to their language and the dialect, the dubbing is much harder compared to western series. The lip synching was difficult in this work and the words must be selected with greater care and concern,” he told MNA.
He said that the script has been translated from the English version, which was incomplete and he added, “I take the whole idea, watch each sequence and write the dialogue based on each part myself.”
“We tried to create simple and eloquent dialogue and the other reason for the series’ popularity could be the smoothness of its dialogues,” he added.
A high point of this series is that the dubbers did not insist on making special characters for the actors through their own voices and the process of dubbing was realistic, he said, adding, “we tried not to exaggerate.”
He later complained about the art of dubbing in the country and said, “Unfortunately, some believe that any voice is good enough for dubbing. Of course, we also haven’t made much effort to attract those with unique voices, but on the whole, there are still some with special voices like Kasra Kiani and Ali Abedi among the younger generation.
Bashkandi later remarked that he doesn’t speak with the voice of the character Jumong when he is among people, saying, “I speak very smoothly and people rarely recognize me as the dubber of Jumong. I don’t like to be recognized by people, but some say to me I have a good voice and it is a good for me to go and give tests as a dubber!”
Produced in 2006, the series is directed by Kim Geun-hong and Lee Ju-hwan. Song Il-guk plays role of Jumong, Kim Seung-su plays Prince Tae-so, and Han Hye-jin plays lady So-suh-no.
TV series Jumong portrays the life of Jumong Taewang, (founder of the kingdom of Goguryeo). Because few details exist in the historical records on Jumong, much artistic license is taken. Much of the original myths surrounding Jumong have been replaced with more down-to-earth storylines