Ruling the airwaves

Quirky radio characters strive to keep FM listeners in Chennai glued, on the drive

November 24, 2014 12:25 pm | Updated 12:25 pm IST

RJ Giri Giri and Thiyagu. PHOTO: V GANESAN

RJ Giri Giri and Thiyagu. PHOTO: V GANESAN

Inside the eerily-silent studios of Big FM (92.7), far above the milling Nungambakkam traffic, RJ Giri Giri turns into a king. His colleague, Thiyagu, transforms into his minister and trusted aide. Together, they pull each other's leg – speaking in the Tamil of yore – and bring to life ravishing queens, galloping horses and fierce battles.

They’re recording for Kirukku Raja, a fictional tale that revolves around the antics of a mighty-but-mad king and his ‘manguni mantri’. Played on airwaves as a ‘sparkler’ or ‘interstitial’, as it is called in radio lingo, this segment is not just funny but also conveys a message.

“In radio, we’re told to paint the picture,” says Giri Giri, “So, we thought visually. Once we zeroed in on the characters (Raja and Mantri), we knew that the diction and dialogues mattered the most.”

As with most radio characters, they are on air for just 30-40 seconds. But the work behind the segment takes a lot more time. “We have to make it timely and fun,” says Thiyagu, “That’s why it is very conversational. After we come up with ten concepts, we freeze on a couple of them.”

Most radio stations in the city create such characters to connect with their listeners. Tune in to Suryan FM (93.5) and you’ll hear the ‘Chinna Ponnu Cinema Kannu’ series quite regularly.

A series that hopes to make you laugh, ‘Chinna Ponnu’ is an imaginary interview of sorts with leading celebrities in tinseltown. Its female protagonist, a quintessential Tamil lady addicted to movies and gossip, asks celebrities questions. The replies aren’t from the stars directly but are derived from dialogues spoken during their interviews or films!

The concept, formulated by programme producer Sowmya Padmanabhan, thrives not only on celebrity gossip, but also current goings-on with respect to their films and life. “This was a controversial idea – we weren’t sure how celebrities would react to it,” she recalls.

That’s when they froze on the character of ‘Chinna Ponnu’, a typical movie-crazy middle-aged woman who is perhaps inspired by actress Kovai Sarala. Chinna Ponnu speaks in typical Coimbatore slang and has oodles of the famous ‘Kovai kusumbu’ inside her; it helps her frame the right questions and make pertinent remarks. It is up to RJ Navalakshmi Rajkumar, a typical Chennaiite, to get that right. Playing ‘Chinna Ponnu’ on the radio, she has to sound different from her usual RJing voice. “It used to be very difficult,” she admits, referring to the initial days when they zeroed in on this concept, “To get the slang right was a challenge. And then, we had to frame questions in such a way that it doesn’t hurt anybody.” She’s tried out ‘interviews’ with actors like Dhanush, Simbu, Vijay Sethupathi, Sivakarthikeyan and Anirudh and has been encouraged by the feedback. “In fact, there have been some people who think that ‘Chinna Ponnu’ is a real person and enquire in the studios about her,” chuckles Navalakshmi, “A few of them have even asked me about her!” Suryan FM also has other radio characters like ‘Kittu Maama’, ‘Susi Maami’, a duo that analyse news in a funny manner, ‘Kisu Kisu Geetha’ who strives to keep listeners updated with the latest happenings in tinseltown.

Tune into Radio Mirchi (98.3 FM), and you’ll hear ‘Ulluru Nayarayan’ giving listeners their daily horoscope but in a funny manner. A spin-off on the daily horoscope that people dote on, this segment aims to make the audience go about their daily routine with a smile. This station also creates seasonal characters – like ‘Oru Viral Apparao’ who urged listeners to vote during the elections. For Radio One (94.3 FM) subscribers there is Malayali professor ‘KT Kunjumon’ who will take some English lessons and try to make them understand how ‘oil’ and ‘boil’ can be used in a sentence.

Such characters have quirky names that listeners can relate to. The most famous characters created at Mirchi are ‘Mokka Mohan’, who uses funny lyrics for popular film tunes, and ‘Single Sethu’. “We ensure that these characters have a personality of their own and portray local flavour,” says Sangeeta Nair, VP and Regional Programming Head South, “They can be edgy and sometimes even get away by saying things that RJs cannot. As these characters are heard on the fly and not as a regular programme, they should have a ‘wow factor’ to attract listeners.”

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