How Radio Stations are leveraging the festival of Navratri...

On the special occasion of Navratri this year  most of the radio networks have geared up to usher in the festive mood with different programmes to entertain their listeners. With non-stop music round the clock this Navratri holds a  unique experience for all radio listeners!

Radio City 91.1 FM, the leading FM radio network in the country, is celebrating Navratri in all its glory this year with innovative plans for the festivities, in different metros of the country.

In Mumbai, Radio City brings the ‘Dandiya Premier League’ along with giving its listeners a chance to enjoy the ‘Morphosis Navratri’, one of the biggest Navratri celebrations in the city. The popular ‘Garba Premier League’ rocks the show in Gujarat while down South, Radio City brings the most innovative ‘Namma City Golu’ to the city of Chennai.  This Navratri. Radio City makes sure this frenzy is maximized. In Mumbai, all listeners need to do is answer some simple questions and win passes to the ‘Morphosis Navratri’ organized at the ‘Sen Roofs Ground’ on Goregaon-Mulund Link Road. Renowned music director, Viju Shah ensures that the tempo stays high through out the event.

With ‘Garba Premier League’ in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat an intense ‘dandiya’ / ‘Garba’ competition amongst housing societies culminates in a grand finale on the day of Dassera, in the presence of a live orchestra.  One couple on each of the nine days gets crowned ‘the best dressed couple’ and one the ‘best dancing couple’.

In Chennai, Radio City normally organizes the grand ‘Golu’ festival - ‘Namma City Golu’. ‘Golu’ is the sacred doll made during Navratri, as a mark of celebration. Radio City canters are going around collecting as many ‘Golus’ as possible in Chennai. The ‘golus’ collected will make up a massive ‘golu’ set-up, with the most unusual dolls, in Chennai’s Spencer’s Plaza mall. The dolls collected from this activity will be distributed amongst under-priviledged children.

In Bangalore, a ‘studio ratha’ or portable studio, travels across the city from 15th to 26th October, giving every Bangalorean the chance to experience the magic, that is radio. Radio City RJs conduct their shows right from the ‘travelling’ studio. Connecting the large city together ‘studio ratha’ makes this Navratri special for Bangaloreans. So stay tuned to FM bole toh Radio City 91.1 FM to rock this Navratri like never before.

Band 104.8 fM Sabse Filmi too has some wonderful plans this Dassera . They have created a special character in – Jignesh Bhai who will be creating the mood of the festival and will be giving Navratri tips on air. In addition, Oye FM has done tie ups with a lot of Dandiya events in Mumbai that will be promoted on air with listeners getting to win passes for the events. In addition Oye FM RJs will be doing special anchoring and performances from some of the events. Some of the dandiya events where Oye! FM has partnered are Meera’s Navratri Mahotsav 2012, Sreesanth Raas 2012 and Korum Golden Dandiya 2012.

Fever 104 FM Bangalore too have their unique ways of fostering in the festival ‘Nav Din.. Paise In’ living up to its promise of being a100% Bollywood station, there will be a quiz that will check the city’s Bollywood quotient and enable people to win cash prizes. Meanwhile Fever 104 FM Delhi has come with Fever Jagrata’  representing these nine days fever when jockeys  won’t sleep and will neither  let Delhites sleep . The jockeys intend going live all night and this in turn will give the  entire station a distinct Navratri flavor!!

Radio Mirchi, India’s leading radio station, is celebrating the festival of Navratri once again with great zeal. This year the radio station planned special programming based on two themes that the festival truly stands for – Music and Dance. With Mirchi Musical Navras on the evening show Sunset Samosa, RJs Meera and Suren will serve the listeners with a platter of 9 Rasas and its presence in contemporary Bollywood music. To add to the zeal, all RJs on Mirchi will be giving out passes to listeners to Mumbai’s most acclaimed and celebrated Navratri Pandals. Mirchi Musical Navras is an innovative series in which RJs Meera and Suren will explore Bollywood Music on the 9 Rasa’s on their show Sunset Samosa. The unique initiative on radio will focus on a musical celebration of each rasa through all-time popular hits. It will also encompass musical instruments that lend to a particular rasa. The Rasas viz, Shringaar, Karun, Vibhatsa, Krodh, Bhayanak Shanti, Hasya, Adbhut and Veer will keep listeners riveted and asking for more!

In Gujarat Navratri is a symbolic festival. In these nine nights of festivities, people completely devote themselves to music and dance, irrespective of their age or religion. The festival has truly created a unique global identity for Gujarat, but it is also losing some of its traditional charm due to changing times.

In order to preserve the culture and tradition of Navratri, in sync with modern times, India’s super-hit radio station 93.5 RED FM launches its third edition of ‘Red Raas’. For Navratri 2012, ‘Red Raas’ has been supported by Ahmedabad’s most popular township – Godrej Garden City. Renowned singers such as Aishwarya Majumdar, Shyamal Munshi, Saumil Munshi, Arti Munshi, Jay Chavda, Aman Lekhadia, Prasad Thaker and Niraj Pathak have been roped in for the third year of the campaign. These talented vocalists will mesmerize revelers with their renditions of songs written by well-known poets such as Tushar Shukla, Raish Maniyar, Vinay Dave, Shyamal-Saumil, Krushna Dave, Anil Chavada, Dr. Niraj Mehta and Naishadh Purani among others.
The novel concept of ‘Red Raas’ was created in 2010 especially for Navratri celebrations.The melodious tunes of Navratri were making way for crass remixes, hence the need was seen to maintain the originality of the festival as well as reflect the current trends. The radio station approached revered poets to revise some of the most popular Navratri numbers by incorporating modern scenarios. In fact, even traditional Garba steps were enriched with moves borrowed from dance forms like Salsa. This innovative campaign garnered a positive response from the audience. It also had a successful inning in 2011.

Commenting on the initiative, Nisha Narayanan, Senior VP – Programming & Projects, 93.5 RED FM said, “Red Raas definitely epitomizes the true spirit and pride of Gujarat which is reflected the most during the exuberant and vibrant festival season of Navratras. The initiative is three years old and has been received enthusiastically by our listeners as well as clients. We will continue to conceptualize such initiatives which bring our brand closer to the audiences and the cultural of the Gujarat.”

Hence this Dassera tune into the various radio networks and sway to the beats of melodious and lilting tunes of evergreen and latest musical numbers!