Radio cartoons are quite popular in Keral since 1970s.The weekly skits,"Kandathum Kettathum" in All India Radio,Thiruvananthapuram,"Kinchana Varthamanam" in Kozhikode and "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur attracted a huge audience,as they cladestently crticised the vices of the society,sandwiched in humour,thus surpassing the inherent restrictions as being the Government- controlled media.
Written by noted playwright Thikkodiyan in early 1970s,"Kinchana Varthamanam" ,which has it's predecessors in the agricultural programmes,was an instant hit.Based basically on current events ,it had one stock character,Sankunni Ammavan.N.N.Kakkad,veteran poet and staff member,lent voice to this character.Other participants were P.M.Mohammed Koya,Rajam K Nair,Vinayan,Balakrishnan. Nair,K.V.Rama handran,M.Pushpa Kumari,U.A .Khader,Manjula Mathews,Kappil V Sukumaran ,all staff members.Prominent actors Balan K Nair,Kuthiravattonpm Pappu,Nellikode Bhaskaran and Kunjava too lent voice occasionally.Thikkodiyan extensively used the local dialects of the Muslim and Hindu communities of Malabar.After his retirement K.A.Muralidharan,R.Vimalasenan Nair,P.P.Sreedharanunni,Iravi Gopal,Khan Kavil,Abdulla Nanmanda and other programme officers were deputed to write the scripts.
"Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur too has it's origin in 1970's.Written and presented by M.D Rajendran,lyricist and staff announcer, in early years,prominent voices were of R.Manikantan Nair,Thrissur P Radhakrishnan ,C.P.Rajasekharan and M.Thankamani,apart from the author.There was no stock character.
It is believed that Nagavally R. S .Kurup and Jagathy N.K Achari had written the earlier scripts for "Kandathum Kettathum".Thirunayanarkurissi,Madavoor Bhasi,K.G.Sethunath,Veeraraghavan Nair too wrote scripts and lent voice to the skits,which are stock-character based.It was S.Ramankutty Nair, who wrote the script and presented the central character,an octogenarian,who speaks in typical local dialect,made it one of the most popular radio programmes in Kerala.T.P. Radhamani,K.G.Devakiamma and C.S Radhadevi too carved a niche for themselves playing opposite to S.Ramankutty Nair.This popular radio cartoon has an unceremonious exit in October,this year.Kalikalam,a daily popular radio cartoon started by Biju Mathew along with Sreekumar Mukhathala in 2007 in the morning chunk too has two stock characters, now being played by K.A. Muralidharan and Rajeshwari Mohan,with occasional presence of another stock character,by G.Sreeram.Sarcastic comments on current events made it a popular programme thanks to the scripts written by S.Narayanan Nampoothiri for a few months and K A Muralidharan,thereafterThe term radio cartoon has been familiarised to the listeners in Kerala with the advent of "Kalikalam".
I have been associated with radio skits since October,2013. I took up the skit programme "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur station too after joining there on transfer in April,2006.
It was an accidental entry,as my colleague in Kozhikode station,who had been assigned to script it that week failed to turn up.Though never wrote any humorous piece earlier,I managed to cobble one.That was an unexpected success.Thus begun my jounrey through this road,untravelled.I drew characters mainly from the current socio-political events.I tried to introduce a pattern with only one theme or incident ,usually with two characters ,ending in a dramatic twist.Most skits are event- centric,not comment-centric.They are light satires,by nature.The duration is maximum 5 mts.Local dialects and slangs of all parts of Kerala had extensively been used,apart from the new-generation yuppie style.
Some radio cartoons:
-What will happen,if you lose your smart phone? A high-profile,tech-savvy person,loses his moble while alighting from a train.Co-passengers pacify him.
"sir,please call your service provider and block the SIM"
He fumbles, as he could not remember his phone number.
"Then dail your wife,or your kids,sir.They could give you the number"
He is about to break down.He doesn't know their number too.
"Everything lost....it was my mini computer,all phone numbers,schedules,correspondences....eveything were fed on that mobile"
He is to reach the airport soon.Someone advised him to hire a taxi.He asked for the rates.When he frantically searches his pocket,somebody points to the nearby ATM counters.He was spell-bound ,as he fails to remember his PIN too.Everybody disperses passing some sarcastic comments.
The taxi driver offers to take him back home.
"where's your house,sir......which road?which flat?......any number??"
When he has no answer,the driver raised his voice
"What an hightech illiterate...could not even remember own phone number! Now sit here with a begging bowl!"
-This is the gist of the radio cartoon,title of which has been given to my collection of radio cartoons,"Hightech Niraksharacharitham",released recently.
A villager wakes up dreaming of television channels giving live interviews with him as witness to an "aircrash "in the nearby paddy fields!
An angry wife curses him,but a publicity -hungry husband is carried away by the TV blitzkrieg featuring his neighbours too.
She sends him to the local market.A few minitues later she gets a call from him.A hilarious husband screams that TV crews will reach soon for live telecast.
she is scared
"where're you?"
"I 'm on our tree-top.I rang up all channels from here,..I told them that I'll commit suicide by jumping off.....You go and make some tea..all will reach now ...switch on the TV!!
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I have been associated with radio skits since October,2013. I took up the skit programme "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur station too after joining there on transfer in April,2006.
It was an accidental entry,as my colleague in Kozhikode station,who had been assigned to script it that week failed to turn up.Though never wrote any humorous piece earlier,I managed to cobble one.That was an unexpected success.Thus begun my jounrey through this road,untravelled.I drew characters mainly from the current socio-political events.I tried to introduce a pattern with only one theme or incident ,usually with two characters ,ending in a dramatic twist.Most skits are event- centric,not comment-centric.They are light satires,by nature.The duration is maximum 5 mts.Local dialects and slangs of all parts of Kerala had extensively been used,apart from the new-generation yuppie style.
Some radio cartoons:
-What will happen,if you lose your smart phone? A high-profile,tech-savvy person,loses his moble while alighting from a train.Co-passengers pacify him.
"sir,please call your service provider and block the SIM"
He fumbles, as he could not remember his phone number.
"Then dail your wife,or your kids,sir.They could give you the number"
He is about to break down.He doesn't know their number too.
"Everything lost....it was my mini computer,all phone numbers,schedules,correspondences....eveything were fed on that mobile"
He is to reach the airport soon.Someone advised him to hire a taxi.He asked for the rates.When he frantically searches his pocket,somebody points to the nearby ATM counters.He was spell-bound ,as he fails to remember his PIN too.Everybody disperses passing some sarcastic comments.
The taxi driver offers to take him back home.
"where's your house,sir......which road?which flat?......any number??"
When he has no answer,the driver raised his voice
"What an hightech illiterate...could not even remember own phone number! Now sit here with a begging bowl!"
-This is the gist of the radio cartoon,title of which has been given to my collection of radio cartoons,"Hightech Niraksharacharitham",released recently.
A villager wakes up dreaming of television channels giving live interviews with him as witness to an "aircrash "in the nearby paddy fields!
An angry wife curses him,but a publicity -hungry husband is carried away by the TV blitzkrieg featuring his neighbours too.
She sends him to the local market.A few minitues later she gets a call from him.A hilarious husband screams that TV crews will reach soon for live telecast.
she is scared
"where're you?"
"I 'm on our tree-top.I rang up all channels from here,..I told them that I'll commit suicide by jumping off.....You go and make some tea..all will reach now ...switch on the TV!!
<
