Fixing it on FM

Radio jockeys today are not merely familiar names "" or even stars. Instead, they are increasingly donning the counsellor's hat both on air and off.

Serious or frivolous, there are problems galore on private FM radio. Switch to any radio station and you will hear people "" girls, boys, housewives, executives and even children "" keen to discuss their problems with radio jockeys.

And what you hear on air is only part of the story. A significant piece unravels "off" air. Like it or not, popular radio jockeys are no longer just entertainers ""and stars ""who blabber on air.

They are increasingly being pushed into acting as online shrinks who are flooded with calls from tormented listeners anxious to share their personal and professional problems.

Says Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City: "Radio is creating stars who often end up playing counsellors to distraught listeners off-air as well." Big FM's national programming head Manav Dhanda, adds: "Interactivity is key to a radio channel. It's the nature of the medium that encourages listeners to talk."

It's not difficult to see why radio is becoming an "agony aunt" medium which people turn to for personal and professional problems. For a start, there are over 100 private radio stations covering a large part of the country. Two, radio is seen as a personal medium.

"We're careful never to say 'aap sab log' when we're on air. The audiences feel we are addressing them individually when we say 'aap' (you)," says radio jock Pallavi, who has just returned to Radio Mirchi after a three year hiatus.

Besides, India's mobile density (the 200 million subscriber base) has made private conversations possible. You no longer need to call from a common landline at home to discuss your private problems. And "social distancing" is making life in the metros quite lonely.

"People don't interact "" families are small and there is little time for friends," observes Simran, a radio jockey of many years (AIR, Radio Mirchi, Red FM), who now hosts "Aao Fix Karein" on Radio City.

Simran and her co-host Varun get calls on broken marriages, infidelity and problems at the workplace. "Mostly, they are communication-related problems," she says.

For instance, a young girl was upset with her father for refusing to buy her a dress, both expensive and backless. Of course, when she called, the young girl did not explain the reason for her father's objection to the dress. The father was pretty upset when Radio City called him and pointed out why he could not give in to his daughter's whim.

"Finally, she saw reason and relented," says Simran.

Within hours of her return on Radio Mirchi to host "Hi Delhi", Pallavi (one of her vocal chords is still paralysed) received a phone call from a woman who was howling. "I could not take the call on air but spent many hours speaking to her after my show was over. She needed to talk about her ailments."

However, not all problems are so elementary. When a man called "Aao Fix Karein" to say his girlfriend was ready to commit suicide, the RJs discovered that he was already married.

Clearly, the girl had discovered it, too. The problem was not aired but the man kept calling Radio City till Simran agreed to speak to his girlfriend. "It went on for weeks. Finally, the girl broke off and thanked us later," says Simran.

But is it right for radio jockeys to play psychoanalysts? In Delhi-based psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh's view, as long as the RJ himself or herself knows that he or she is not a counsellor and does not even try to be one, it is okay.

"Ideally, all they need to do is to be sensitive and they can be of help by letting people give vent to their feelings," he says.

And that is exactly what's done in the studio, radio jockeys claim. "We act as friends and not psychologists," says Big 92.7 FM's popular RJ Anirudh. Controversial calls are not taken on air and "we take the middle path when we advise," he says.

His show "Anirudh Uncensored" is a late night show that deals with love, sex and sexuality and he's known as Anirudh LLB (Love, Ladkiyan, Bollywood).

RJs across radio stations say that they take a moral stand which is usually common across societies and cultures. "We're very careful in what we propagate. We do not encourage things like infidelity," says Simran. Radio Mirchi's Naved who used to host Dr Love some time ago, says that RJs must speak to their audiences responsibly.

"After all, they trust us completely. For instance, people believe me when I say that there is a traffic jam from ITO to Preet Vihar in Bumper 2Bumper even though I am not taking that road."

Often such trust and popularity comes handy. RJ Anirudh managed to rehabilitate an HIV positive person through his radio station. The patient's plight was aired on Big 92.7 FM and he was later invited to the studio. Eventually, the man found a job, a house and a bank balance with the help that poured in from the channel's audiences.

Clearly, the RJs' equity with their listeners is tremendous. However, not everybody is impressed by radio jockeys playing shrinks.

"Such shows make no commercial sense. It's a bad strategy as you cannot control the quality of the caller. Besides, how much problem solving can a station do?" asks independent radio consultant Sunil Kumar.

Fortunately, Radio's agony aunt role has not swallowed up its role as an entertainment medium. Not yet. Apurva Purohit cites a Radio City audience survey where in a select audience, 29 per cent people said that they listened to radio to "relax". While 2 per cent of the respondents said that they heard it for "time pass", a good 22 per cent admitted that they listened to radio for "companionship".