A radio drama version of K R Meera’s ‘Aarachaar,’ the award-winning tale of executioners set in Bengal, and a 47-year-old play by N Krishna Pillai for which legendary actors Sathyan, Prem Nazir and Sheela lent voice are among the highlights of this year’s AIR Radio Drama Festival, which will open on August 20.Every year since the 1960s - although the exact year is a bit vague - AIR stations in Kerala come together for the Radio Drama Festival. “And, over the years, it has transformed into one of the most-awaited broadcast events for radio buffs. The plays that last one hour will be aired at 9.30 pm on all days, and re-broadcast at 11 am the next day,” say AIR officials. This year’s festival will open on Saturday with ‘Thiranottam,’ a special programme on the greenroom stories behind each play.
On August 21, the Thiruvananthapuram station will broadcast ‘Aaraachar.’ The novel has been adapted for radio by Anil Janardhanan, and directed by N Vasudev. Some of the best known names in Mollywood have lent voice for it, including Lal, Premkumar and Kollam Thulasi. The Kozhikode station will air ‘Oru Mayilpeeli Pranayathinte Ormakkayi’ written by Ramesh Kavil and directed by Mathew Joseph, on August 22. A radio adaptation of ‘Pattabakki,’ which is considered as the first political drama to be staged in the State, will be aired by the Thrissur station of AIR on August 23. Written by K Damodaran, the radio version has been directed by V Udayakumar.
The Kannur station will chip in with Ibrahim Vengara’s ‘Uravakal Vattunnu’ on August 24. P V Prasanth Kumar has directed the one-hour version for radio. The Kochi station’s contribution this year is ‘Sahasrayogam,’ written by Sreemoolanagaram Vijayan. Siddique and Sajitha Madathil have lent voice for it. The Ananthapuri FM has come up with a timely topic: ‘the number of government holidays in September.’ ‘Avadhi Devo Bhava’ is written by Thomas Mathew and directed by Kusuma Priyadarshini.
Curtains will fall on this year’s festival with ‘Ithilkannikal,’ the 1969 radio play written by N Krishna Pillai and directed by T N Gopinathan Nair. A galaxy of illustrious names in Malayalam cinema have lent voice for the memorable play - Sathyan, Prem Nazir, P Bhaskaran, Adoor Bhasi, Jose Prakash, Kottayam Chellappan, Sheela and T R Omana, among others. “This play is from our archival collection,” said Thiruvananthapuram station director R C Gopal.
Source & credit :http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Get-ready-for-the-radio-drama-experience/2016/08/15/article3579706.ece