The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Avatar with a difference for the versatile actor

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Friday, May 16, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Avatar with a difference for the versatile actor

Ramya Kannan

AIDS awareness campaign featuring Kamal Haasan is on air

STAR PRESENCE: A poster of the ‘Ini Oru Vidhi Seivom’ campaign.

CHENNAI: At a time when the name Kamal Haasan has become synonymous with the word Dasavatharam, here is a non-controversial avatar that has not been talked about as much — the do-gooder ‘Ulaga Nayagan.’

Last December, Kamal decided to throw his persona, voice, and conviction into a campaign launched by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society and the United Nations to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS in the State and reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with the infection.

With that, he became the most prominent poster boy for the HIV/AIDS campaign in the State and one of the few Kollywood celebrities to endorse a social cause.

On radio

Ever since, his vocals for the campaign “Ini Oru Vidhi Seivom” have been on air, his bearded-person on posters and the visuals on television. The campaign has now been launched on radio, as a series on HIV awareness and preventing mother to child transmission of HIV.

“We needed to take the message to people in the nook and corner of the State. With Kamal Haasan providing the impetus, we are hoping the series will encourage people to call up and ask questions during radio programmes,” says Supriya Sahu, project director, TANSACS. The on-air campaign is a tie-up between TANSACS, Internews Network and All India Radio.

To make the radio programme more appealing, it was decided to train radio jockeys on the basic issues around of HIV. Some campus FM channel jockeys, including RJs from Anna FM, MOP FM, Kongu FM, Mugil FM, NILA FM and Holy Cross FM, were also trained, according to Jaya Shreedhar of Internews.

Training for RJs was important as it gives those compering the talk show a focus on HIV and get them to be more articulate with callers about the subject, according to Ms. Sahu.

The campaign is being conducted over a period of three months from all AIR stations in the State.

An expert panel will answer questions raised by listeners who call in. The series, to continue for 26 weeks, is being broadcast every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Broadcast of the campaign began on April 22 from eight AIR stations in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The recorded program is being re-broadcast the subsequent Friday, beginning 8 p.m.

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