If you are an avid radio listener, then you would have heard the baritone that has hosted many radio shows. He has also dabbled with the media as a television correspondent, scripting stories for shows such as Surabhi , The India show, Zee Travel Show for the Star Network to name a few. And, now the voice can be heard on Red Rewind between 9 pm 12 am Monday to Thursday on Superhits 93.5 Red FM Bangalore. Meet the man behind the voice — Niladri Bose — who talks to Metroplus about his passion for the radio, music and life as an RJ.
Excerpts:
Did you always have this baritone?
No. In fact, during my college days I was called Mrs. Bose. I don’t know how the change in my voice happened.
It has been 18 years since your journey with the radio...
It 20 years actually. I gave up chemical engineering as I felt trapped just like the child in Taare Zameen Par inside the classroom. So I took to documentary making, cinematography and moved to wildlife photography. Soon I started writing for Surabhi and later joined NDTV as a cameraman. I found it boring to stand in a studio and shoot a person talking. It was nowhere close to the excitement of being out there in the wild. Climbing trees to escape a tiger seemed more appealing to me than standing in a studio, recording talks. I quit and was looking for a job when a friend told me a radio station was auditioning. I applied and was selected by Times FM which later became Radio Mirchi.
Y ou started off with television. How did that move happen as radio was not so big then as it is today?
I never looked at radio as going down. Radio was in a nascent stage and I thought it was an opportunity for me to be part of that evolution. I joined in 97 and the boom happened in 2003. So I actually saw the analogue radio go into the digital form.
Tell us about the evolution of the radio.
When I joined we had spools and had to do everything manually. Now it is digital and easier. Those days, if I inserted the CD player and said, ‘hey, coming up now is Led Zeppelin’, the CD would refuse to work. So I had to keep banging it and keep talking and not let the listener know what was happening here. Then I had to swing my chair to the other side to play the ads. So it would keep us on our toes. Now, it is all automated. If you think you can talk, then this is the job for you. But those days you needed to know the manual part. You even had to remember to grease the wheels of your chair you sit on so it would not squeak when you moved it around, and check that your CD was not scratched... but, today, if it is a 5 pm show, you walk in around 4.55 and are set to roll.
Never thought of going back to wildlife photography?
I thought with the radio I had a minimal chance to make my name come out. Because in filmmaking you are a part of a bigger banner and are assisting in a particular area of your expertise. So, it is hard to be noticed. But radio, gave me the ability to come out as a person.
Did you know a lot about music or did you have to start from scratch?
I was a big music lover and was into Hindi and English music. But, if you ask me what I think about today’s music, I will say my knowledge is zero. I don’t think today’s music is music. There is just a beat and talk. I do not follow it. But, anything with the 60s, 70s, 80s and even till the Jackson era from jazz, to rock to pop, I am clued in.
Tell us about the challenges of being a radio jockey.
It is very different now. Everything is streamlined. Someone collects your music. And your talk is all impromptu. Your producer gives you the content and you take off from here. So it is bindaas sitting here and talking to people out there.
What if you are not in the mood to talk to anybody?
It happens. But I am in the happiness business. I am in a business where, even if I have had a fight with my wife or a fist fight with someone on the road, I need to forget it as soon as I switch on the mike. Because someone out there, either cooking or driving, may not be feeling so good. So why should that person be burdened to switch on the radio and listen to another depressed person? That is the first step. I might look psychotic, but that change is instant and I need to be upbeat when I am sitting here.
How do you build a relationship with just your voice?
I think I am little old school. First, an RJ should not think he/she is celebrity. Once that is sorted, you are one amongst the people. You are just a voice on behalf of the people that are listening to you. So if you start coming in and show that you are big, you will never be able to build that relationship with your listener. You need to be grounded. And always believe that you are at the bottom of the ring as now the internet has also taken over everything. It is important that you be sensitive with people, empathise with them, never lose your sense or your cool.
What is that special Niladri touch.
I know it sounds clichéd but I just be myself. I feel blessed to be in front of this mike even after 20 years. At 45, if I am still getting shows then it shows I am accepted by my listeners. I was one of the youngest to join the radio and today, probably, one of the oldest. About the special touch the listeners have to tell. I am just humbled by their love and positive feedback.
You have also hosted international celebrities. How was it to talk to Boney M. or Eric Clapton?
They are a world apart from some of the celebrities we have in our country. They feel honoured to be interviewed or even give a sound byte. They are celebrities only when they are performing and after that as human as you and me. They don’t live in a bubble. The only thing is we have be up in their time zone to talk to them. Our job is to take the interview to the people that love them and not take it home and keep it on my shelf. So I don’t understand why some celebs put up this fence around them. I am in the entertainment business, not in the investigation department. So why would I put anyone in a fix?
Life as an RJ today...
It is wrong to say that we worked hard and today’s RJs do not. We had to do a lot of ground work. Those days we would ask how many shows we would get. Today, we ask how much money will I get paid. That is a major change I see. The money is good. If you are good, you get paid well. The other thing I see is that today’s RJs need instant gratification. It does not work. If you have to run like a horse, you need grit and training. You also need to be honest to yourself. Don’t hide your true self from your listener. Don’t hide that you have a wife or kids or that you don’t have a weakness. You are as normal as your listener. I don’t like the pretentious nature in some of the radio presenters. That needs to be cut out. Be honest so the listener can connect with you. If you have a false air that you are a radio jockey, you are bombing your own airfield and will never be able to take off.
