Sound Thoma, Ragaram Iyer and Harry, Badai Bhanumati, Jose ettan and the like evoke smiles and guffaws as soon as we hear them. Familiar to listeners of FM radio stations in the city, these signature characters or, rather, voices, up the fun quotient of the musical programmes with their earthy humour and quirky comments. In radio lingo they are called ‘sparklers’ or ‘interstitials.’ Most FM stations in the city – and across the state – that depend mainly on music for its programming, use these quirky characters as fillers between and in the midst of programmes.
“Interstitials are a fun way to keep audiences entertained. They break the monotony and evoke a bit of laughter too. The idea is that listeners can relate to these characters, laugh with them, laugh at them and even learn a little from them,” says RJ Feroz A. Azeez a.k.a. ‘Kidilam’ Feroz, presently, programming head, Big FM. He was one of the first RJs to introduce an interstitial, ‘Kakkakannan Gopi,’ to radio audiences in the city through his popular breakfast show, when private FM stations debuted on air seven years ago. “Interstitials are so important to radio that prior to the start of the channel we were given almost a month of training in conceptualising, creating and producing them,” says Feroz. “Kakakannan Gopi, which I had voiced, is an old man who used to jump in with his funny comments and opinions. He was so popular that people actually used to come to the studio in search of him when the show was on air!” says Feroze, with a laugh. Big FM is planning to re-introduce audiences to wise old Gopi when it goes in for a re-launch on January 28. The channel is also launching a new sparkler, ‘Urvashi Theatres’ that comments on current events, through funny dialogues among members of a theatre troupe.
“Every city has a mood. And humour with a dose of satire is big for listeners in the city. That’s why you find that such interstitials are an integral part of radio programming in the city. Sparklers have to have the right dose of humour and satire and should instantly appeal to listeners,” says Parvathy Nair, programming head, Red FM. Apart from the irrepressible Sound Thoma, inspired by actor Dileep’s nasal-voiced eponymous comedy film, the channel also runs the sparklers ‘Oru Jaathi News’, in which Jose ettan, a character with a Thrissur slang, lampoons offbeat news stories, and ‘Hello My Dear Wrong Number’, in which RJs Shifin and Rajesh make ‘prank calls’ to unsuspecting listeners, always to hilarious outcomes. “We usually air eight insertions of each interstitial each per day. It’s important to keep changing the content to sustain the interest of the viewers and we do so every day,” adds Parvathy.
Even though most of the sparklers are only a minute long or less [just over two mins in the case of Ragaram Iyer], the folk behind the scenes say that they are some of the most difficult items to produce. “Sound Thoma is very much a team effort, the result of daily brainstorming sessions with my team comprising RJs Rijas, Shifin, Laavanya, Rajesh, and Anjaly and Shalu, the station’s music manager. One of the guys – I am not at a liberty to say who, we’d like to maintain the illusion – voices Thoma. The others pitch in by voicing different characters,” says Parvathy.
Smitha P.A., programming head, Radio Mirchi, lends her voice to know-it-all Bhanumati, which started airing from January 1, in place of sparkler C.P. Paulose. He is a door-to-door salesman for ‘Udaippu and Ittup company,’ who sells unlikely items such as a nose plug “to stave off the smell from the garbage heaps” in the city. “My six-member team of RJs Sreenath, Nilja, Chinchu, TJ, Nithin and Unni and I come up with themes for the sparklers, based on stories, news, jokes and the like that we come across. It’s a very informal discussion, which involves a lot of laughter and pulling of legs – just what Bhanumati is like on air,” she says.
It helps that they have elaborate concepts and back stories to work around. For instance, Club FM’s Ragaram Iyer and Harry are bumbling detectives of the Music Bureau of Investigation. Much to the amusement of listeners, the duo sounds very much like Mammootty and Suresh Gopi, respectively, of CBI Diary Kuruppu film series. Created and voiced by G. Priyaraj, programming head of Club FM’s Kochi station, their modus operandi is to inadvertently crack cases of music piracy. Incidentally, it is one of the only interstitials to be adapted for TV [on Kappa TV]. Another sparkler, ‘Idhendhu Koothu’, inspired by Chakyarkoothu, an age-old satirical performance art form, has a Chakyar offering his opinion on a relevant topic, laced with sarcasm. According to Jaideep R., deputy general manager, Club FM, the objective of this sparkler is to “bring awareness about red tapism in the state and expose corruption.” Also voiced by Priyaraj, this segment too is aired in every show across the channel’s stations in the state. The channel’s ‘Fun Trailers’, meanwhile, voiced by Priyaraj, RJ Achu and various other RJs depending on the characters, is a spoof on latest movies – both the hits and misses.
“The names and characters are camouflaged in a hilarious manner and the highlights of the movie are delivered with such impact that it is easy to identify it,” explains Jaideep. For example, ‘Keram’ was a satire of hit movie Neram. In the satire they highlighted the importance of the coconut tree in a funny manner. ‘Bag vilkha bag’ was their take on Bollywood epic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag … “‘Vilkuka means selling in Malayalam and so the character is a bag seller. It turned out to be a hit among the listeners. Just like the movie releases are awaited, fun trailers releases are now awaited with anticipation by the listeners,” says Jaideep.
Each skit also has elements of music and dialogues that help listeners identify the sparkler. Sound Thoma, for instance, ends his comments with ‘Ente Ponnu!’ a line popularised by Dileep in the film. Fun Trailers ends with the line, ‘Never expect this film in a theatre near you’ and Chakyar ends his rant with ‘Idhendhu Koothu!’
Happy listening!
