Kishan Sharma, a legendary radio broadcaster, musician and stage compere, who once ‘compelled’ the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to speak on stage, still believes that he is a simple man and his achievements are just blessings of his well-wishers. The senior announcer of Akashvani’s Vividh Bharati was honoured by Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh on Wednesday for his remarkable journey in radio industry.

 

The ceremony was held at Shrimant Baburao Dhanwate Sabhagruha, behind Wockhardt Hospital, Shankar Nagar. Five decades down the line, Sharma, now 80, describes himself as someone who became a star by ‘fluke,’ courtesy the radio. “In those days, radio broadcasters were big stars because radio was the only medium,’’ says Sharma, who was in cordial terms with some of the big names in the Hindi cinema including Raj Kapoor, Manna Dey, Mohd Rafi, Ravindra Jain, Anil Biswas, Harivansh Rai Bachchan etc. Sharma reminisced moments that shared his bond with legendary personalities during his elite career. Talking about the incident when he compelled Vajpayee to speak on stage, Sharma said, “It was the Golden Jubilee celebration of India’s Independence way back in 1997 when the incident happened. Actually, I was compering the programme which was attended by the former Prime Minister. According to the official protocol and schedule, the Prime Minister was only supposed to attend, inaugurate, or sit on the stage as a chief guest—not deliver a formal speech.”

 

Despite the protocol, the then BJP high command and ministers were insisting PM to deliver a speech or recite his poetry. But, Vajpayee refused all requests. However, on being insisted by Sharma to recite a line of his poetry on stage, the PM accepted it and recited some of his poems. The next day, when Sharma insisted to know about the reason behind his silence during the event, he got to know that Pakistan had attacked India, when we were celebrating the Golden Jubilee year and Vajpayee was not in a state of mind to address the programme. Sharma also spoke about the first ever visit of Raj Kapoor to Nagpur to attend a family function. “Raj Kapoor was here to attend a function at his sister’s residence, who was a resident of Nagpur.

 

At that time, local artists got a chance to perform before Raj Kapoor at the function and after the event he appreciated their talent and showed interest in giving them a break in Mumbai,” said Sharma. The announcer also spoke about the simplicity of yesteryear stars and their humility. “Stars like Mohd Rafi, Manna Dey and Raj Kapoor all are gems of Indian cinema, not just for their work but also for their conduct. They knew to respect other artists and were very down to earth. However, now the scenario is completely different,” said Sharma. At the outset, Sharma was felicitated with a shawl, shriphal and a memento at the hands of the guests. The interview was moderated by Balasaheb Kulkarni. Shripad Aprajit, former Editor, Maharashtra Times, was the chief guest. Dr Girish Gandhi presided over the event and Vilas Manekar also shared the dais as guest.