If you are reading this in Bengal, chances are you already know what I will be documenting here. Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM brings you one curated story every weekend under – ‘Sunday Suspense’. The story usually falls under the genres of horror, thriller, mystery, crime, and most importantly suspense.
What Is It About?
An hour-long episode of an audio story being unfurled by RJ Deep and RJ Mir, with occasional guest appearances is what this show is primarily all about.
The vocal prowess of these RJs combined with gripping tales by Satyajit Ray, Saradindu Bandyopadhyay and other various gems of Bengali literature bring out the best of Sunday afternoons.
It all began in 2009, and almost a dozen years later, this show still is one of the favourites among many households.
What makes it better, is the fact that this show has also had translations of authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury and many more authors of suspense and horror.
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What Makes It So Good?
In a generation where books are becoming obsolete, this was a noble attempt at reconnecting a generation to their culture and heritage, one thriller at a time. With a baritone voice, narrating these stories, the voice modulations bring about a theatre-like experience.
Some of the best stories that they have had were “The Lost Jewels” by Rabindranath Tagore, “Khagam” by Satyajit Ray and “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty” as part of Sherlock Holmes’ series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
They also expanded into making a series of telling the stories, with Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s novel, “Chaander Pahar” where it aired for six days of a week in 2012. 2017 on they started uploading these audio-books on their YouTube channel, episode-wise.
Broadening Prospects
Although Sunday Suspense was primarily targeted to render literature classics, the person behind it, Indrani Chakrabarti, was open to trying out newer authors’ stories. Their YouTube channel has garnered over 1.3 million subscribers.
They even had CDs released with stories, priced at INR 150, which was later pirated and those copies flooded the market.
Even other radio channels have copied this concept, for instance, Red FM’s “Ek Kahani Esi Bhi” and Radio Mirchi themselves tried this in other cities, but Sunday Suspense stood tall, with a mixture of their audience’s love for literature coupled with RJ Mir and RJ Deep’s vocal prowess of telling an age-old tale.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: YouTube, Radio Mirchi, The Signal SCV
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This post was tagged under: Sunday suspense, radio mirchi, all India radio, what to do on a Sunday afternoon, lazy Sunday afternoon, top radio shows in bengal, radio shows worth tuning into, Mir Afsar Ali, Indrani Chakrabarti, Red FM, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali Literature, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, Radio Mirchi Youtube channel, Crime tales, Horror Stories, Audiobooks
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