Bhawana Somaaya

Three months ago when Tarun Katial, CEO Reliance Media World asked me to review films for his radio channel BIG 92.7 FM, I was not sure what the process entailed. The first time we recorded the reviews over the telephone but the sound quality was not up to the mark so we agreed to do future recordings in their studio.

The BIG Studio is situated in the Infinity Mall, Andheri and has a separate entrance from the shopping area that takes you to the fourth floor. Two security guards stand by the two doors and entry is strictly by punching of cards. If there is a visitor, the staffer has to escort the guest and later see him off to the gate personally.

There are big banners of the channel all over the place and the office is a large circular space comprising innumerable cubicles. A narrow corridor with sparkling floor leads you to the recording studios where radio jockeys, young boys and girls in the age group of 20-25 years with head phones over their ears are engrossed in soliloquies. It is a treat to watch them laugh, sing, emote and chat behind the glass partitions. There is a long sofa outside the studios where the jockeys hold impromptu meetings.

For my second review, I was escorted into one such studio and introduced to my co-host Rani. We jointly worked out a programmer for the weekly film reviews and a new show on Sunday aptly titled Big Bollywood Chaat.

Now that I have become comfortable in my new role, I thought it was time to share my observations on the medium. I have discovered, for instance, that radio programming is a showcasing of word, thought and voice. I’m granted 40 seconds to process and articulate my thoughts on a film before the RJ moves on to the next link and song. The medium of communication is Hindi in order to reach out to a wider audience.

All conversation has to be topical and engaging because music channels are essentially about entertainment but just songs by themselves can become monotonous and that’s where the RJ comes in. Every RJ has his/her unique style of connecting with their listeners. At BIG, Brajesh is dramatic, Rani spontaneous, Ketan sincere, Nitin comic, Ruchi youthful and Lavanya is the girl with the golden voice.

While I have to solely focus on my content, the RJ, in this case Ketan/ Ruchi, balance multiple tracks like music, advertisements, slogans and teasers. It is not easy for the slightest shift in attention can ruin the links or overlap shows. What’s further commendable is that they edit it on the spot. I realized that we tend to undermine their job.

There is no written script for any show and all the chatting you hear is extempore. They work crazy hours often without a break and have no fixed time for pack up. As a result they have little or no social/private life. The executive producers of all these shows begin work at an unearthly hour. Jagmohan who is the EP of our review show is in the office every morning at 5 a.m. At times they work double and triple shifts because they are substituting for a fellow jockey or because of technical snags like machines getting hung or unavailability of recording studios. So the next time you find your favourite RJ sound exhausted, don’t complain instead empathize. I did.

It is not as if they don’t have fun, they do. In between their shows and ensuing madness, some take respite chatting with a colleague, some call up beloveds, some order a strong cup of coffee or soup…The office has a great atmosphere, informal, invigorating and vibrating with music. The air-condition temperatures are a bit high and the girls are always wrapped in shawls, but they are all the time smiling and singing. All mobiles are always on silent as they hop from studio to studio and cubicle to cubicle punching cards and checking sounds.

Somewhere at a little distance is the CEO’s plush cabin filled with artifacts and overlooking a busy street. Nobody ever gets to meet him because he is forever in a meeting either in the board room, his cabin, at a five star hotel, in a different city or out of the country. Still his presence looms large in the atmosphere as the show goes on… and the team goes about their routine, day after day and week after week, 24×7…

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Three weeks ago I was introduced to the world of web by my friend Indranil Maitra who is the Vice President, Digital Services, Lehren, Film News 24 Hours. Indranil asked me to do Hindi film reviews on their website. I said yes and I was exposed to a new world.

After the print and the radio, writing for the web was a learning experience. There were new lessons to be learnt and new observations to be made.

Unlike the radio where I processed and composed my thoughts extempore in 45 seconds in Hindi, on the web I’m allowed the luxury of one minute per review in English which is super imposed over my image on the net. I learnt that while chatting on the radio calls for expertise and communication, audio reviews on the net is about oratory skills for it is about reciting what you have written with the right pauses and punctuations.

In the end, both the mediums are about voice projection and befriending the microphone except that while the recording in the radio channel studio controls all external sounds, the telephone recording for the net done from home/office calls for self discipline. You have to remember to switch off all electrical gadgets in the room that can interfere with the live recording.

There are other precautions as well like a chirping bird on your window sill or the turning of the paper in your hand and most important, your breathing pattern. You must know when to take a pause because like the camera, the microphone is very sharp and quick to capture the smallest flaw. I would have never known these differences were I not provided the opportunities by Big 92.7 FM and Lehren.

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Enlighten Film Society is the largest film society in India and showcases quality world cinema on Sunday mornings at Cinemax, Andheri and Metro. Last month they held a retrospective of Bachchan screening four films to represent four decades. On 28 February Sunday was the grand finale felicitating Bachchan and Paa director Balki who were in conversation with me and the audience. The auditorium with a capacity of 450 seats was packed to the brim with people sitting on the steps and the aisles. The doors had to be kept open because there were about 150 people outside who could not watch the event but wanted to hear Mr. Bachchan. It was an evening to remember and for those who missed it, here are some glimpses of the evening.

Enlighten Film Society holds a record of the highest number of members among film societies all over India. What makes Enlighten special is that it showcases the best of World Cinema on every Sunday morning at Cinemax, Andheri and simultaneously at Metro Adlab in South Bombay.

Started in 2007 it is the brain child of two dynamic young boys Pranav & Jimmy who had the courage to pursue a dream. In just a year’s time they got into distribution of films and DVD classic collections. Every few months they organize short festivals of legendary stars and invite the celebrity for a live interaction with audience. Shabana Azmi, Naseerudin Shah, Waheeda Rehman, Javed Akhtar have all been a part of their workshops. .
This month Enlighten is celebrating a Godfather Festival (Part I, II, III ) and invited filmmaker Ramgopal Verma who has dedicated his Sarkar to Godfather as the chief guest. He was the right choice because not only is RGV a prolific but also the most productive filmmaker of his generation. In just 20 years he has produced 43 films, directed 31 films and written scripts for 13. Also out of total 53 Hindi films made by him, some under his banner and some outside 11 films delve on the underbelly of society. Shiva in 89, Drohi in 92, Satya in 98, Company in 2002, Ab Tak Chappan and Ek Hasina Thi in 2004, Sarkar and D in 2005, Shiva II in 2006, SarkarRaaj and Contract in 2008.

It was a packed auditorium with cinema students and film lovers to interact with their favorite director. As the Creative Consultant to Enlighten Film it was my duty to conduct an ‘In Conversation’ with the filmmaker where he talked about the influence of Godfather in his life. He said he was presented a copy of the book while he was in college and told to read a certain page that described an explicit love scene. Verma read that page and was inspired to watch the film. “The film changed his life and I wanted to become a filmmaker.”

“Where ever I go people ask me what attracts me to the underworld. The fact is that the Gangster in my film is always an ordinary man. He does what he does because it is a part of his profession. This applies to Bhikhu Mahtre in Satya as well as to the encounter cop in Ab Tak Chappan…If you take away the profession of Bhikhu he is an ordinary family man almost frightened of his wife. The scene where he makes his daughter recite the nursery rhyme inside the jail is what makes him so endearing.” Verma revealed that it is a habit with him to make the same subject again and again until he gets it right.That is why he continues making Horror films and stories of the underworld.

When it was time to interact with the audience he was flooded with intelligent, introspective questions from upcoming actors and filmmakers. Verma was candid in his answers an the audience relished his humor. When he was asked if he was coming up Sarkar III he denied the media rumors that that he was making it with Aishwarya Rai. “How can I when the script leaves no possibility for me to continue the story.”

Next day when I met him at his office he confided that after Rann he intends to make Rakt Charitra inspired from Andhra Pradesh’s most feared criminal Paritala Ravi. “I have read biographies of various people including criminals like Vellupalli Prabhakaran, LTTE Chief to Pablo Escobar who is the Columbian drug lord to Dawood but even his story pales in comparison. Paritala was forced to hide in the forests and sought to violence to take revenge of his family. He was interesting because he was a rebel, a Robinhood, a saviour, a hero. He was the reason behind the bomb explosion initiated by Paritala’s enemy Suri at Rama Naidu Studio.”

Verma said that his research entailed him to meet various associates of Paritala and Suri, “I even went to meet Suri presently lodged in Anantpur Jail for killing Ravi Paritala. Theirs is the most passionate and horrific story of power and conflict. I’m so excited that I have already begun working on the script. I intend to begin shooting as soon as I release Rann…

“The sheer drama and content of the story is such that it cannot be compressed in two or three hours. This story calls for longer duration and therefore I plan to release it in two parts- Rakt Charitra I and Rakt Charitra II within a gap of two months. It is a novel idea and the first of its kind in the marketing of Indian cinema. I know this is going to be the most defining film of my career because of the emotional content of the story. In my opinion there is no way I can go wrong with the subject. On the contrary I have to work very hard to destroy it….Do you get me?”

I do Mr Verma but can we please wait for Rann to release and then fly to your new dream…

Bhawana Somaaya