KOCHI: In the early 1960s and 70s the main entertainment medium for Malayalis was the radio. It was an era when the emotion-filled sounds conquered our minds. Malayalis became familiar with the voices of T R Sukumaran Nair, K G Sethunath, P Gangadharan Nair, T P Radhamani, S Ramankutty Nair and C S Radhadevi, even without seeing them. Later we witnessed the transformation of many radio artists like P Padmarajan, Venu Nagavalli, M G Radhakrishnan and others into great film personalities. Now the All India Radio has decided to bring back those nostalgic memories by airing some selected radio plays spread over the past few decades. This unique programme is designed to mark the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of the Radio Plays aired by All India Radio in Kerala. The nine-day-long Radio Drama fest began with the famous and oldest sound track, War and Peace, the radio version of the great work of Tolstoy in the same title. Through this radio play, which was first aired in 1963, listeners could recall the matchless voices of many celebrities. The soothing voices of P Gangadharan Nair, popularly known as Radio Ammaman, that of T R Sukumaran Nair and the striking female voices of T P Radhamani and K G Devaki Amma enriched this play on September 19.
The dynamic energy-filled voice of Balan K Nair and the Malabar slang in the voice of Kunjandi AIR, had added beauty to the famous play of K Thaayaattu, titled Sethu Bandhanam which was presented during the golden days of radio plays by the Kozhikode station. The thespian K Thaayaattu had also lent his voice for this play. On the third night, Thrissur Station presented the famous play of P J Antony titled Mooshika Sthree. The play was presented using the voice of Karunakaran Cherukara, M K Warrier, Mardu Joseph, Sreemoolanagaram Mohan, Leela Kolappully and Thrissur Elsy. Kochi FM will present the play Shathru on the fourth night. In this play many familiar voices including that of Parameswaran Pototi and actor Siddique will be presented for various characters.
Kannur Station’s Manju Prathima will be aired on September 23. P Padmarajan’s famous play Valarthu Mrugangal, which was first aired in 1970, will be aired on September 24, in which the listeners will get a chance to listen to the voices of Kambisseri Karunakaran, G Vivekanandan, Madavoor Bhasi and P Padmarajan.
Three satirical skits, Dubai Jagapoka, Mukhangal Vilapanakku and Mandan Govindan's Sandehangal will be aired by the Kozhikode station on Septembet 25. The voice of Venmani Vishnu will enrich this play. On September 26, the Thrissur station will present a play adopted from a touching literary work of Cherukaadu.
The nine-day-long fest will conclude with the airing of Jeevanulla Prathimakal presented by Ananthapuri FM. T his concluding play was earlier aired in 1987. Celebrities like Mohanlal, M G Soman, Karamana Janardhanan Nair, C I Paul, K A Assis, Jagadeesh, Manianpilla Raju and Aranmula Ponnamma have lent their voices to this play. This will be aired on September 27. All these plays will be aired at 9.30 pm.
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