Famous radio personality Gopal Sharma passed away
💐 Sad demise of Gopal Sharma, Announcer & Compere : a tribute 💐
It is informed by Shashi Sharma, daughter of Gopal Sharma that my father Mr. Gopal Sharma is no more. He left today on 22 May 2020 morning at 8 30 am in Pune.
Hearty tribute to the departed soul of Gopal Sharma.
गोपाल शर्मा Gopal Sharma born on 28 December 1931 at Chandpur, Distt. Bijnaur (Uttar Pradesh) is a former announcer at Radio Ceylon (at present SLBC). Gopal Sharma joined Radio Ceylon on 24th April, 1956 and served for 11 years. He Left Radio Ceylon on 23rd April, 1967.
Gopal Sharma's journey started at Radio Ceyoln on a bitter-sweet note as the very first announcement somehow went wrong, when Gopal Sharma, out of his anxiety and excitement announced the next song on “Purani Filmon Ke Geeton Ka Kaaryakram” and here the tongue got slipped, when he said now the next song is from the movie Mukesh sung by Andaz, instead of naming Mukesh as the singer for the movie Andaz. The audience of Radio Ceylon didn’t appreciate this mistake but the Almighty was kind enough to him and he survived his own mistake. This made him more alert and agile while doing announcement.
From 1956 to 1967, Gopal Sharma ruled Radio Ceylon, which was aired from Colombo. The man who popularised usages like Awaz ki duniya ke doston, Shubhratri, Shubashish, Bandhuvar and Filmonia decided to bridge the gap between radio listeners & the men behind the mike with his autobiography. Titled, appropriately, "Awaz Ki Duniya Ke Doston", the book has just hit the stands.This 280-page-book in Hindi is an account of how perfect pronunciation and language helped him become a star on the airwaves. It is also a guide for aspiring broadcasters.
Sharma has that charismatic voice that glued listeners to Radio Ceylon. He popularised Hindi film music and instrumentals so much so that once when legendary shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan met Sharma, the former kissed his hands saying, "You make crores of listeners listen to my shehnai with these hands."
In Gopal Sharma's words - Once Lata Mangeshkar invited him as she was fan of him and Gopal Sharma could not recognize her as Lataji was in very simple costume. Finally Lataji requested him to listen to her recording to prove. The book is replete with several such instances and makes one realise the power of radio, particularly in the days before entertainment options proliferated. Recalls the veteran, who has interviewed almost all the reigning actors, "My weekly programme comparing the music and songs of old and new times, 'Kal Aur Aaj' (1958-1959) would make the likes of Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor & O. P. Ralhan and many more, write to me. Once Raj Kapoor asked me, 'How do you get so much time to research on topics like how film music was started etc ? I am amazed at the details you provide.' This compliment was enough to keep me going."
It was during the period 1950-54, when Vimla and Kamini Ganjawar were the sole announcers in Radio Ceylon that they introduced the programme, ‘Purani filmo ke geet’ from 7.30 am till 8 am and made it a point to conclude the presentation with a song of K.L.Saigal.
That became a tradition which was continued by subsequent announcers like Vijay Kishore Dubey, Smt Vimal Kashyap, Gopal Sharma, Manohar Mahajan, Chetan Khera, Daljit Singh Parmar and others. At present, the SLBC's Hindi service has been slashed but one programme that has survived till this day is ‘Purani filmo ke geet’. It still begins at 7.30 am and ends at 8.00 am with a K. L. Saigal song. The tradition set by the Ganjawars to play Kishore Kumar’s ‘Khush hai zamana aj pehli tarikh hai’ (film Pehli Tarikh) also continues till this day. Despite short duration of broadcasting of SLBC (Radio Ceylon), still millions of its lover not only from Indian sub-continent but also from many parts of the world are eagerly awaiting and listening Hindi service of SLBC. It (Radio Ceylon) is a daily dose of medicine for old listeners.
By Dilip Apte
