Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada were new, and Hindi was seemingly a redub, as evidence points to a Hindi dub airing in either India or Pakistan about 10 years prior.
Sadly the only recordings we have are some brief very blurry clips on YouTube from 2012. There is one clear clip from 2 years ago, so presumably this is from an old recording. Having said that we don't know when or where this possibly first Hindi Kai dub aired. Although it seems this Hindi dub was indeed different from what aired on Cartoon Network India last year as Goku's actor had this to say in an interview:
So unless we assume this Kai dub was recorded in 2010 Javeri's comments imply he was recast when the initial Hindi Kai dub aired but he recently reprised his role (which we know he did as he plays Goku in the 2023 Hindi Kai dub). I would also think Javeri's mention of 250 episodes is referring to Dragon Ball Z and not Kai. Javeri didn't play Goku for the entirety of the Hindi Z dub but took over from Amar Babaria in season 2, so since that was a dub of the edited 276-episode run of Dragon Ball Z Javeri's estimation of 250 episodes sounds accurate, especially when we rule out the possibility of Kai being dubbed in 2010."Ankur Javeri wrote":
I was dubbing this series from 2006-2010. Dubbed 250 episodes and 13 movies for CNI telecast versions. At that time I never knew that this series will have such a great impact on today’s generation, as back then the mothers hated this series and called it Violent.
So we were asked to even tone down the fight scenes so we thought this series is a goner compared to other successful shows but when in 2020 I joined social media I noticed that people still remembered this series and loved me as the Indian voice of Goku. It’s more demanding than all other shows owing to the character traits of Goku that he powers up and roars a lot hahaha.
So while looking for evidence of the first Hindi Kai dub I saw a Facebook page named 'Cartoon Network Pakistan' (which I'm not sure is an official account) share the Kai logo with one person commenting asking for it to be replayed. Of course even if Kai aired in Pakistan in 2012 it may have not been with a Hindi dub as the original Dragon Ball Z aired with Funimation's dub on their local Toonami a few years prior to that.
For India, I came across one Facebook post from the time, which states "DBZ Kai Will Not Gonna to Air on Cartoon Network India in December 2012. It Will Directly Air on Toonami India With Dragon Ball Gt & Dragon Ball Z in Early 2013", which suggests to me there may have been some anticipation for the series coming that year, which ultimately led to disappointment.
While I haven't been able to find anything for 2013 in India I did find another Facebook group with the following public post:
Seemingly, it was delayed again as towards the end of 2014 a post in a separate Facebook group read "For Dragon Ball Z Kai On Cartoon Network India, Starting From Next Year 2015 !"."Cartoon Character's Change our life wrote":
Wait is over...Finally the most loved Anime come to india....
Dragon ball Z kai...is gona on-air on cartoon network India from 1st June.....
Stay tuned for more update
Source - #ANWW
#BlaZe_UcHihA
However Kai may have aired in Pakistan before 2014 was out as Toon Anime India wrote the following:
Luckily for Indian fans though, it appears 2015 was indeed the year as we can see fan reports of watching Kai that year. As one fan noted on the first day of March "I'm Watching Dragon Ball Z Kai on Cartoon Network Only at Midnight"."Toon Anime India wrote":
Breaking News
Dragon Ball Z Kai (Hindi) Coming Soon on Cartoon Network Pakistan.
On This October !!!!!
It is interesting this individual says Kai aired at midnight, so the Hindi dub that aired around this time was likely an uncut dub. Notably the OP is based on Funimation's uncut footage. It is likely the dub itself was based on Funimation's scripts and video tracks as this has been historically true for the original Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs of Dragon Ball Z, which I believe were commissioned by Cartoon Network and dubbed at Sound & Vision Studios.
Indeed a follow-up post from Toon Anime India does seem to corroborate a 2014 release date for Pakistan and a slightly later premier for India:
Was anyone following these broadcasts at the time and do you remember the Hindi dub that was aired?"Toon Anime India wrote":
Dragon Ball Z Kai Coming Soon In Pakistan & India
Pakistan Releases Date : This Year December 2014
And India Releases Date : Next Year January 2015
