The radio is back, and how! Bollywood filmmakers have taken to the radio in a big way and, what’s more, they are actually using the medium as a vehicle that furthers the film’s narrative.


in Salaam Namaste, Ambar ( Preity Zinta) is a bubbly radio show host at the Salaam Namaste radio station. in her special show, Ambar interviews successful indians living in Australia.


it is during one such show that Ambar bumps into Nick (Saif Ali Khan). in Rang De Basanti’s climax, the film’s protagonists take control over the radio station to address the nation.


in Lage Raho Munnabhai, Munna spends his days listening to RJ Jhanvi (Vidya Balan) on the radio. He doles out Gandhian advice to people on Jhanvi’s radio show, helping them take decisions in life.


in the recent Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, an RJ of a radio show Pyaar Ke Lamhe plays the role of narrator, who discusses individual characters, revealing secrets about them and their past. So, what is it about the radio that the filmmakers are using it as a medium to tell the story?


Actor Minissha Lamba reasons, “With the advent of the television, the radio had lost its edge. But now, with more and more stations coming up, radio and radio jockeys have become a part of our daily lives which is reflected in the films as well.


i’m glad filmmakers are not only using the radio for promoting films, but also as a narrative tool in a very innovative manner.”


Atul Kulkarni, who played the right-wing activist in Rang De Basanti, affirms that the radio is a very strong medium. “Earlier, the radio was not sufficiently interactive.


But today, the new avatar of radio communicates very effectively with the audience. As it is not a visual medium, lots of things are left to the audience’s imagination.That’s the reason filmmakers are trying it out.”


Does that mean that filmmakers are cashing in on the FM wave? Jaideep Sahani, scriptwriter, doesn’t think so. “No, filmmakers are not trying to cash in on the FM wave.


Actually, the radio is used as a medium in films for creative and technical reasons, that is,when one character wants to communicate with another. Similarly, it can be used to tell the background of the characters.”


According to Jaideep, using the radio in the film for narrating a story can also save lots of money and effort. “if one wants to show a burning city, you can just announce it on the radio instead of taking the trouble of making a city and burning it.


This is the technical reason for using the radio as a narrative medium,” informs Jaideep. What matters, in other words, is the voice that you hear. it tells a story that you believe in as you sit, watching a movie.





http://minissha-lamba.com