RJ Anmol, who rules the Radio Mirchi (Mumbai) airwaves with the best of retro music, is one of the most talented jocks in the night time band today. The popular radio jockey flips through the pages of his secret diary and spills some unknown stories of 'Purani Jeans'.

I started the show 'Purani Jeans' in Mumbai. It used to happen earlier on Radio Mirchi but they stopped it. In fact all the stations had stopped retro music around four years back. At that time, our team did an extensive research to find out what new and exciting we could bring on radio, so that we can give a fresh, new look to the station. My aim was to present new show concepts, so my team along with some more RJs presented two concepts. Out of them, one was to get retro back on radio. But the question was who will host the show, as we all were a young bunch of people born in the 80s.

People think that just because I am doing a retro show, I must be very old. And that is why I have so much knowledge about the songs. But in fact, I was born in a family where my parents heard these classics right from morning to evening. Since I had heard all these songs earlier, I told them that I can do the show.

My favourite actor has always been Dev Anand and I have been a huge fan of him. I was sure that I can run a full show on him alone. That is when we started doing Purani Jeans which was a two hour show back then.

I started the show on 4th January, and within one month I did an activity. 27th January was my birthday and I told my listeners that I will play songs of their choice only if they send me handwritten letters. I got so many letters with such amazing messages for the show, so we extended the show from two to three hours. The show has been an evolving journey for me as a human and as a radio jockey.

Radio is a new medium; we are all exploring what can be done on it. I also try to present my ideas to my programming people who get scared, as I always come up with weird ideas. But my ideas usually work as was seen with the letters. Nobody today writes letters so we did not know what to expect, but we got a huge bunch of them. So the ideas worked, and thus the four and a half years have been wonderful. In fact in the first three years, I have done around 800 shows non-stop without any leave.

After starting Purani Jeans on Radio Mirchi, four other stations started retro music show at the same time slot, copying the same format. I feel this is the best compliment anyone can get. If people are copying you, it means that they like what you are doing. As per RAM ratings, my show in the night slot, which was supposed to be a dead slot, got ratings of around 3.2-3.5 and more. Nobody else had even touched three. A newspaper had even stated that the show has even beaten the morning slot, which is considered as the prime time. Everyone then started doing retro.

But I’m happy that they have started doing retro because retro as a band was dying. I don’t want retro to die, I will do anything and everything to promote retro because that’s where the real music is. If you don’t listen to retro, you will grow up to be something else.

The kind of listeners I have and the response I get when I go out and meet them is amazing. Every two or three months I keep doing a concept. I was the first one to do a legends series where I interviewed Shammi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Dev Anand and more every week. This went on for three months, and then others also started doing that. So I started showing films, and I was the first person on private radio in India to bring retro films back in the theatre. Since Dev sahab was my favourite, I selected Jewel Thief and we showcased the movie in Regal cinema, where we had 1500 people. Since that did well, I showed Aradhana. Then I decided to show four films together by hosting the ‘Purani Jeans Film Festival’. At the fest I showed Guide, An Evening in Paris, Kabhi Kabhi and Teesri Manzil. All these films were showcased in the presence of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore and more.

Dev Anand was so happy when he saw Jewel Thief that he gave me his original hat and he became my fan. He said in an interview that day, that he was RJ Anmol’s fan. That was special.

I have been very lucky to have met such legends. This is the last lot of the great people. So when I met Dev Anand for the first time on 6th June in 2007, I had a small accident in the afternoon and hurt my head. I went to meet him with a bandage on my head for the first time, and he had told his secretary that he will spend only 10-15 minutes with me. He was shocked to see me as I was wearing shorts and had a bandage on my head. Our interview went on for over an hour, and after that he predicted that after five years I will be exorbitant, and what I will be 10 years from now is unimaginable. It’s been six years now and I have grown immensely. This is the best stage of my radio career.

Secondly when I met Shammi Kapoor for the first time, I got late by 15 minutes. He sent me back and cancelled the interview. He told me, “Today you will go back and realize the importance of 15 minutes.” He said that he was free but he will not do the interview. I thought he was kidding. But he told me to call and take an appointment again. The next time I was meeting him, I was 15 minutes away from his house and there was a traffic jam. I got down from the car, took my recorder and ran all the way. I was panting when I reached, so he asked me what happened. When I told him, he said, “See the importance of 15 minutes. You realized it.”

So while other jocks were promoting new films, we went back in time. Retro stars are very emotional and sensitive and since I have a one-to-one rapport with them, I can’t tell anyone else to talk to them. Moreover, our archives are so bad that we don’t have film prints, to search for them and to check the print was a task. I do everything from start to end as I don’t like ideas which have already been done.

I followed it up with another concept last December, which was in my mind from past six years. I wanted to travel around the city and do a show but technology was not allowing me to do that. But we worked that out and I did Bus Itna Sa Khwab Hai where I took listeners on a bus and we went on a journey exploring the lives of artistes like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Mohd. Rafi and Laxmikant Pyarelal.

There were a lot of challenges in doing this, so we did a lot of research to select places which people have not seen before. Another special moment was when Pyarelal ji came on that bus with me.

I have cried at the end of every show. I was happy that I could implement a concept that was in my heart from so many years, and this involved everyone right from the engineers to producers and more. The scariest part about the show was that it was live and if I was stuck in a traffic jam I had to come up with something different to say to the listeners, as I could not have told them I am at point A or B.

My aim was to make listeners meet up with artistes who have passed away, and the best way was to take them to places where these people spent most of their time. The stories also used to be told by the people at these places who have had an experience with those stars. Our journey used to mostly end on Bandstand as most of the stars had their statues there.

Since I had a great rapport with so many of them, losing them has been like a personal loss for me. Dev Anand was exclusive to me; he never gave any interview to any other station. If you hear any radio station playing his interview it must be before 2009.

I am also very close to Pyarelal and Asha Bhosle. In fact I recently took her interview where she has stated that she has never given such an interview before. I consider myself very lucky and blessed, and that is why things work.

The connect on Purani Jeans is so emotional and close to our soul. I once went to Rangsharda auditorium as a guest for a show on Mohd Rafi. I went on stage and spoke a bit about him. After that, when I came back to my seat, a man in his mid-50s came rushing to me and sat on the ground at my feet. I asked him what he was doing, and he said ‘just let me sit here for some time because you saved my life. I had a heart attack and I was in the hospital getting treated. Every night I listened to you and that gave me so much of energy that I wanted to live again’.

Even when we were screening Aaradhna, a guy came to me and said ‘my mother wants to meet you’. So I said ok and there I saw this lady who has no hair on her head as she had cancer and was going through chemotherapy. She said that the only reason she wanted to live was because she wanted to hear my show.

People have come up to me and said that they have come out of depression because of me. But it’s not because of me; it’s the music they listen to. I always keep my listeners in the loop and whenever I am planning a new concept I tell them to pray for me. And trust me, everything has fallen into place.

I did this show called Anmol Pahuncha Aapke Ghar, where for one month non-stop I used to go to a listener’s house and do the show. I told listeners that they can invite me to their house and I will air their stories and play songs which they like. So I went to the houses and I thought a family of 4-5 members will be there, and I was surprised to see that the whole society would get together in that one apartment.

I went to this one house where the building was decorated with lights as if it was someone’s wedding. They in turn stated that it was for me and they welcomed me with an aarti and dhol. It was overwhelming, because we are sitting in the studio all alone and don’t realize what is happening outside. The house was a one room kitchen and was just filled with people.

I had just recovered from jaundice at that time. So wherever I used to go, people used to make special food for me with less masala. I have always been a jock who likes to go out, be seen and match up to my voice. Connecting radio with on-ground is my funda. I get the best of all the age groups responding to me and the show.

In my show, some of the tracks that are the most in demand are Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas. Every second person wants to listen to this song and I get requests for it every night. Another one is Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar, Ankhiyon Ke Jahrokho Se and all songs from the film Dosti are mostly in demand.

My most favourite singers amongst the lot have been Kishore Kumar, Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle. In the current ones I like Sonu Nigam. No one comes close to him. If somebody can get into the league of Kishore Kumar and more, it can only be Sonu Nigam. Melodies will last a long time and amongst the songs in recent times, only a handful of those will manage to survive and be remembered in the long run.