Calling himself a through and through Mumbaikar, RJ Rishi Kapoor hosts the show ‘Mumbai Local’ on Red FM every day. An ardent Michael Schumacher fan, he says never wanted to become an RJ because he was studying dentistry. In an interview with Radioandmusic.com, RJ Rishi talks about his childhood, hobbies and more.

Childhood

I was born and brought up in Mumbai. In school, I was one of those kids who always passed with amazing grades and topped the class. I always wanted to answer in class, which is why I was my teachers’ pet. This used to annoy the last benchers and I would often get bullied by them, but in a friendly way. I would get back at them during the examinations, because I had the answers and would not always help them out. I always dreamt of being a doctor. The idea of wearing a white coat and conducting surgeries fascinated me.

Being an RJ

I never really thought about becoming an RJ. While I was finishing my course in dentistry, a lot of radio stations were conducting an RJ hunt, and I thought of giving it a shot. Fortunately, I ended up winning the competition and the radio station trained me. At the time I was a back up RJ, and eventually graduated to becoming a full time RJ. Radio consumes most of my time which is why I cannot pursue being a dentist.

Being cautious on radio

Rather than knowing what to say on radio, one needs to know what not to say. First of all, never ever make fun of religious beliefs or any particular religious community. And sadly, we cannot make jokes about political parties. Also, you should not annoy celebs as they might not give you an interview. Also you need to understand that you cannot express your opinion strongly, because your listeners might not feel the same way. You also need to realise that you cater to almost seven to eight lakh people at the same time, so if you do not have anything special to say, do not say anything at all.

Hobbies

I love watching American TV sitcoms and a lot of other TV shows.

Social Causes

Being a part of Red FM, we are always doing these activities. We recently finished one campaign- ‘Don’t Be Horny’ and prior to that we had done ‘Mama Ko Pani Pilao’.

Sports you follow

I have been following Formula One for years, and I love how those cars zoom, each one trying securing a top position. I also run a blog on Formula One, but it has very few followers from India as not many people understand the sport that well. I am an ardent fan of the God of racing Michael Schumacher.

Music I enjoy

I enjoy all kinds of music which is not played on radio. That is usually because we are always playing Bollywood music on-air. I really like Chemical Brothers, Two Steps from Hell and a few others. I also love the musical scores by Hans Zimmer, but I dislike rock music.

Leisure time

I do not have too much leisure time. But whenever I do have free time, I prefer to stay at home. I do not like partying or going out. I spend a lot of time with my family.