C Suresh Kumar, the most sought-after person when it comes to voice-over or anchoring, celebrates his silver jubilee in the industry
'Ramachathinte kulirum kasthurimanjalinte kaanthiyum othinangiya prakrithiyude sugandham Radhas Ayurvedic Soap’
This radio spot (meaning ad), made in the early 80s, has stood the test of time.
So has the voice.
The most sought-after name when it comes to voice-over or anchoring, C Suresh Kumar, better known as Spot Suresh (after his ad agency Spot Audio Visual Advertising), has been around for over 25 years now. At his agency, he writes scripts for spots and gives voice.
He joined Akashavani as casual announcer in 1981. While working there, it was Saraswathi Amma (`Vanithalokam' fame) who asked him if he was interested in doing a radio spot of Narmada shopping complex in Thiruvananthapuram.
That was the beginning.
In 1983, he worked at KSFDC for Drishyakeralam, a news magazine. In 1985, when Doordarshan Malayalam started telecast, he joined as commentator.
T he same year he launched Spot which has been concentrating on radio spots till now. ‘‘The total number of works might have crossed 3,000,’’ he said.
The much-acclaimed spot for Radhas ayurvedic soap and Ragam Textiles (Kilipadum kaavukal...) happened before he started his agency. He did them for Sravya and Media Waves agencies respectively.
Radio plays have played an important role in his career. A much acclaimed work was ‘Ammu, Annie, Amina, Pinneyoral’ written by Mohammed Roshan. ‘‘It was a big hit. I consider Mohammed my guru in radio plays,’’ Suresh said.
The total scenario of radio spot has changed over the years.
‘‘There was a time when the spots had to be made keeping some limitations in mind. Now, with lots of FM channels on air, sky is the limit. Small players have withdrawn. The clients are ready to go to any extent to market their products,’’ he said.
However, amidst the ocean of spots, Suresh has created some evergreen works. For example, the spot for Kumarikalpam.
‘‘It was after 22 years that the company changed the spot.’’ The spot of Santosh Hair Tone has been on air for over 20 years. That of Thalees Pathradi made 15 years ago is heard even today.
These days, he is more familiar as the anchor of ‘Pattupetti’ telecast on Asianet.
He has been anchoring it for the past six years. He won the State Television Award (2004) for the best anchor for the programme. The East Coast Group has used his voice in most of its productions.
K P Udayabhanu has played an important part in his growth as a stage anchor. ‘‘He wanted me as an announcer for his ‘Old is Gold’ troupe. It was for the troupe’s programmes that I started going deep into the history of film songs,’’ he said.
One among the toughest anchoring assignments has been a five-and-a-half hour long stage anchoring at Nishagandhi in connection with K J Yesudas’s 60th birthday. ‘‘There was no script,’’ Suresh said.
Another feather in his cap is the 700-odd interviews he did on ‘Suprabhatham,’ Asianet’s morning show. East Coast’s Mohanlal show ‘Mohabbat’ was another event which saw Suresh anchoring on many stages.
‘‘Devarajan master usually announces the songs by himself on any stage. I might be the only other person given the privilege to anchor his music shows.’’ Nowadays, besides making radio spots, stage anchoring and voice overs, Suresh is often called upon to take classes. An interesting assignment was for IGNOU.
He, along with Beeyar Prasad, was invited to Delhi to lead a session on film songs and the literature in them for teachers of IGNOU. ‘‘We selected 25 songs. While Prasad handled the literature part, I talked about the songs,’’ he said.
Major recognitions that have come his way include the State award for narration in 1993 (for a work on Herman Gundert telecast by Doordarshan. It had a 60-page script). He has also won the RAPA (Radio and Television Advertising Practitioners’ Association of India) award twice- in 1985 for the jingle of Sunanda weekly (‘‘I received the award from Sunil Gavaskar’’) and in 1988 for the jingle of Era Soap (which had music by M G Radhakrishnan).
‘‘When EMS’s ashes was being brought to Thiruvananthapuram by road, the commentary was given by me. I consider it an honour,’’ he said.
Suresh is now the district secretary of Kerala Advertising Agencies Association of Kerala. He lives in Thiruvananthapuram with wife Latha and children Chandu and Aarcha.