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.