Tuning back in time - My Radio, My Life

Upcoming documentary My Radio, My Life draws from the multidimensional roles, in memory and life, played by the once-ubiquitous radio

A needle spinning between cities, film photos, a wire garland around a photo of a beloved inventor— and between all the frames dripping with nostalgia, the radio, an invention that has joined the antique pile along with modern anachronisms like cassettes and VCR tapes.

The radio is the central hero of the documentary ‘My Radio, My Life’, from Timecap documentaries directed by Makarand Waikar and Bidit Roy, which received its first screening for invitees at the National Film Archives of India on February 13, 2024, a thematically apt presentation for UNESCO’s World Radio Day.

The film, which runs for an hour and eight minutes, is a throwback to a golden age of radio where it was the only form of entertainment — a middle class hero in middle class homes. The theme seems unfortunately apt as India grieves one its most recognisable voices on radio, Ameen Sayani, the much beloved host of Binaca Geetmala, who passed away on February 21, 2024, aged 91.

Nostalgia and heart are at centre of people’s memories with the radio. The research team behind the documentary, headed by Simantinee Bhagwat, sought to tap into this vein, pulling together a set of documentary subjects with three core elements— passion, emotion and nostalgia, seeking not a technical or historical approach, but a people-first one.

This approach befits the radio, a gentle presence in many people’s daily lives. As codirector and producer Makarand Waikar says during the launch “radio doesn’t intrude in your life...no one goes to the doctor saying they are addicted to radio.”

Co-director Bidit Roy calls the documentary an interesting way to look at the relationship between radio and people. His own approach is nostalgic, and he speaks fondly of how his paternal grandfather was so attached to his little transistor radio, he used to throw tantrums if its batteries radio ran out.

The film has notched best documentary awards or nominations at 80 festivals in 35 countries, but was screened last week for the first time for public invitees, and is yet to be released online.