Giving voice to unread letters

Gajraj Rao

After a long day of shooting as he travels home, negotiating Mumbai's bumper-to-bumper traffic, Gajraj Rao almost always tunes into a podcast. Over the past four years, he has become an avid fan of them. So, one would assume that he jumped at the idea of exploring podcasts with Chitthiyaan. Far from that, reveals the senior actor. "I was initially unsure about stepping into this new realm," he admits.

But when IVM Podcasts-Pratilipi head Amit Doshi and director Safura Ubaid narrated the story to Rao, he knew he had to voice the project. Chitthiyaan tells the story of retired postmaster Prasad Joshi, who chances upon a box of undelivered letters while preparing for his wedding anniversary celebration. "Chitthiyaan is a soulful project for me because, at one point in my life, I used to write letters. Even today, on special occasions or when I feel the need to express my emotions, I write them. Receiving letters from others brings me immense joy," smiles the actor, who was recently seen in Satyaprem Ki Katha.

Facing the camera comes easy to Rao who has a three-decade acting career behind him. But trying his hand at a podcast was a different ballgame. He says that before recording the six episodes in April and May, he prepped extensively - from practicing vocal exercises to doing rehearsals with other cast members. "In a podcast, your most influential instrument is your voice. While I had prior experience recording for advertisements, narrating a story in this long-format medium presented a novel challenge. The responsibility of conveying the narrative falls heavily on the words and sound design, as there are no visuals to rely upon."