HYDERABAD: Bajega Bajega! booms the speaker when RJ Raaj lesser known by his original name – Dilip Kumar – takes over the mic in the studio at Red FM every day. Popular for his prank calls to unwitting Hyderabadis is his forte. Raaj can easily flit from a barritone uncle’s voice to a young woman’s in an instant to make sure he stays committed to the bit. How his show works is, a listener would request him to play a prank on one of their friends and Raaj based on what the victim’s profession and background is sets up an elaborate act over call.
More often than not, his victims are perplexed when he finally reveals that it was indeed RJ Raaj who pranked them. While this is all that we already know from the show, a lot goes on behind the scenes as RJ Raaj preps and turns on his charm every now and then for the prank victims. As a radio jockey Raaj believes in the power of humour and that taking it up a notch by being in on the listeners’ inside jokes. Here’s his story.
It all began
“It was an accident,” chimes Raaj. Sekhar (who you guys would know as RJ Sekhar Basha) and I were friends and he told me to try out for some auditions that were happening at a new radio station back then. I just went because I had nothing else to do that afternoon. I gave an audition and they told me I had a great voice, and was spontaneous enough to be a radio jockey. They told me they’d call me the next day but I got a call almost immediately after I left the studio,” he recalls. But apparently Dilip Kumar was too tardy for the radio. “They kept telling me that my name had to be catchy so I picked a name and ran with it,” says the radio jockey who is as laid back as any Hyderabadi.
His evening show has a flurry of listeners and he says the love for pranking is high in the city. “We announce that we are taking prank requests and to send them to our Whatsapp number or on our Facebook page and instantly we get a whole bunch of requests,” says Raaj. As an afterthought he adds, “Sometimes I get calls on the number with team leaders or sometimes even CEOs calling me to check if their prank would be aired that day. And it is the best feeling ever. To have people from every strata of the society connecting with you over humour is surreal.”
Idea to be prankster
Although when he moved to Red FM after a four year stint in his first job, the station already had a prank show, RJ Raaj thought he could bring a lot more flavour to the table. His show was an instant hit he assures. Raaj who plays various roles - including an old man or a young woman seamlessly changing characters as he goes, makes sure he convinces the listener that he indeed is the person he is claiming to be. “Once I decide on whose request we will take, I call the one who requested and take full details of the person they want me to prank - what they do, what their strengths and weak points are, what they did this week, so I can hatch a plan that fits well with their reality. After I have a plan in place I make the call. Often the call is recorded edited and then aired. The ones who request the prank sometimes call me towards the end of the show saying, “Anna, I’m waiting in the parking to punch in after you finish your show.” Moments like these really get me going,” he explains.
Setting his own rules
RJ Raaj understands that pranks may not be everybody’s cup of tea. Some may even go as far as to call it humiliating or insulting. Ask him if he had to ever deal with offended or rude victims and he snaps, “No.” His thorough background check on the people he plays pranks on keeps him ahead of the curve and he makes sure he isn’t touching anything that might hurt them. “I had seen a few other pranks that other RJs played and I did not think they were funny. I didn’t laugh. So my sole aim was to make everyone laugh. That included my listeners, the one who requested the prank and of course the one on the recieving end. However, that isn’t enough either. “I like clean comedy. I make sure I’m not crossing a line or getting vulgar. I play characters in my act and it is necessary that I don’t say or do anything to demean the one I’m playing or the one who is being pranked. My goal is just to have fun along with everyone else,” he says.
Maintaining a reputation
Raaj also has quite a clean track record. Doing a prank show making sure no one gets offended is no mean feat. But he proudly says, “Everyone ends the call with a smile!” He adds, “I get smiles, sometimes they can’t even stop laughing. And some say, “Arey anna! Nuvva!”. It feels like I’m one of them. As if I am in on the joke that a group of friends are cracking among themselves.”
Raaj likes to beleive he is always sweet sixteen and laughs it off when asked for his age. Bring up the responsibility that being a public personality has on him, he has quite the unexpected response. “I don’t believe in giving gyan. We all have a worldview and there’s no point trying to push our ideas onto others. I just like being funny and making people smile. I don’t overthink it and don’t let other people do that either. Why get so serious about things. Life is simple, let it stay simple,” shrugs Raaj who has a style of his own. His philosophy is to not have a philosophy.
Eye on the goal
Future too is hopeful for RJ Raaj. He adores the entertainment industry, He himself plays an anchor in some shows but he intends on investing in TV production. “It’s been a long awaited plan. Very soon, I hope to launch a production house for TV,” says the RJ. Reminiscing about the time things didn’t work his way he says, “I enjoy being on stage and emceeing. That is one of the reasons I joined the industry as well. Right now I also take up a few gigs as an anchor but that’s just for the love of it.” It wasn’t all hunky dory however. He shares, “There was a point when I and my brother invested in a production company to make a movie but after a point it didn’t work. But now I have hope,” he says confidently. Breezing through life, Raaj has quite the way to make things work for him. “I just like to live it up everyday. I don’t believe in people who show themselves off or are too full of themselves. Which is why I am not like that. Evadi cinema ki vaade hero! (Each one is the hero in their own story), he quips with a hint of philopsophy.
— Srividya Palaparthi
srividya.palaparthi
@newindianexpress.com
@PSrividya53