MUMBAI: Danish Sait, best known as RJ Danish, did not realise he had a creative streak until he stumbled upon opportunities to bring out that side of him. Today, he is not just an RJ at Fever FM, but also an MC, comedian, actor, TV presenter and writer. Bangalore knows him for his prank calls, and now Chennai is about to learn more about this man. The RJ admits he does not plan tomorrow, but works around the clock to have a better today.
In conversation with Radioanadmusic.com, RJ Danish speaks about his journey as an RJ, the creation of his characters and lot more. Read on.
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Tell us a bit about your journey in the entertainment industry?
I used to work for this company called Phase 1 in Bangalore. But, I did not belong there for I was really bad at my job. Given the opportunity, my bosses would have definitely thrown me out. Luckily, around the same time, my cousin told me about an RJing vacancy in Bahrain and I took it up. I started working for Radio Voice, Bahrain without an audition, and used to run the breakfast show. However, I had no experience in RJing, neither did I get any training before going on-air. So I decide to take online tutorials by following radios around the globe. That is how I started understanding the basic structure of how radio works. I worked there for a year and a half, and then went on to join Radio Spice in Dubai, where I was for a year. I later came down to Bangalore, and joined Fever FM.
How was it initially at Fever FM?
For me, it was like starting from scratch. I had to rework everything because my foundation was very patchy. My experience abroad got me a job at Fever FM, but my work did not have any structure. So, I had to work hard. However, I was creative hence, they made me a producer. This is when I started writing content for Radio.
Did you like the job?
I had to plan things around celebrities’ birthdays and anniversaries. There were times when I was even creating content around their pet’s birthdays. Frankly speaking, the job made me very crabby. I knew that I was working for a Bollywood radio station; but I did not understand how a celebrity’s birthday would be important to listeners.
Is this when Nagraj, Nagesh, Asgarh and others came to your rescue?
It all started with me creating ‘Koffee With Kiran’- a gay guy’s take on Bollywood. It was my first character ever on radio. But, the character happened to be very edgy and we started getting letters from people asking us to stop it. This is when we started prank calls. This got massive attention and I managed to escape the celebrity birthdays and parties content.
Did anyone in particular inspire you to create these characters?
I am a huge fan of Seth MacFarlane. He has given voice to four or five characters in ‘Family Guy’. I always wanted to work under him, even if it was just to do an internship. Back then I had never thought that someday I would give voice to eight characters that are popular in Bangalore. These characters are no different from the stereotype people of the city. There are always certain kinds of people in every city.
Have any of your listeners appreciated your work?
At a mall in Bangalore, a middle aged man walked up to me and thanked me once. I did not know why he was thanking me so, I asked him. He told me that his mother had not laughed in five years, which was after his father’s demise, but one of my prank calls made her laugh. Real compliments come from real people and that is the essence of radio.
How do you manage to balance it all?
There are times when I do not sleep for 24 hours. I have to keep moving from one place to another, but I enjoy it all. This is soul searching for me with a lot of innovation and creativity.
What’s next?
I really do not know. It is hard to zero down things for me, as I live in the moment. Opportunities will open up on the way, and I will grab them.
