Childhood was the time where aspirations and dreams took a new turn each time something unique attracted. Also, the habit of collecting unusual stuff was always a memory for us. But this was not the case for RJ Divya Solgama of Radio Nasha.

Being a Hindi Cinema addictive and a movie worm helped Divya climb the stairs of success, something he had never thought about.

From a graduate in Architecture and Interior Designing to a Radio Jockey, RJ Divya has some interesting story to share. Excerpts.

How did radio happen to you?

I am a big-time radio admirer and I participated in radio quiz related to movies and won many. When Fever FM launched in Mumbai, somebody introduced me to Anurag Pandey (currently hosting Picture Pandey show). They wanted to launch a retro-weekend show named Picture Pandey in 2009. When I met him I had no experience of radio but had a lot of knowledge. I met Gaurav Sharma, Fever FM head and he asked me, ‘what I can give him?’ I said, ‘Whatever I give you will not be found on the internet but once you put this on your show, it will be up on internet within a week.’

While we were into producing the show for Anurag, Gaurav Sharma asked me to use the talent I have. That is when he came up with an idea of doing a sparkling show. I was a no experienced person when it came to RJing but I had the knowledge and that gave the confidence to face the mike.

Then we started India’s Spy G9 inspired by Mithun Chakravarti's film. So that is how the show was named G9 Divya Solgama.

Tell us more about G9 show.

For the G9 show, I came up with three themes. First ‘Copycat Series’ – Hindi songs copied in various languages (English, Marathi, South Indian and Hindi too). Second were actors that hymn song in their films. Not many people knew that their favourite actors could actually sing. The third was information on renowned actors who worked in regional films. The show shares rare trivias and songs. The show airs on Saturdays-Sundays from 4 pm onwards.

What are your other segments on the radio station?

Next, is called Super se Upar that talks about flashy scenes from the film. So here I actually express the feeling of watching a film scene on the mike.

There is another morning segment on Fever called IPL which means interesting, popular, less heard. This gives rarest songs of actors along with unheard trivia stories which are also surprising for the actors themselves. This special segment is in place when a film completes 25 to 30 years, or on birthdays and death anniversaries. The best part is when I do a feature on an artiste; it is not Wikipedia, but my bit of rarest information, researched info from different sources.

As Radio Nasha and Fever FM come from the same parent company, my shows and sparklers are a part of both the radio stations.

How has the audience response been?

There are crazy fans out only for the sparklers and I’ve been doing this for Fever for the last seven years. People from Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad all have got in touch with me via Facebook just for sparklers. I also get requests from people for more inputs on something they personally want to know.

How do you manage to get the unusual information?

I have been watching films since childhood. I have a collection of rarest books related to Hindi Cinema and actors, film comics. I have purchased old magazines either from online or from the scrap collector and the collection is around 2000 old magazine collection. I have a collection of 8000 Hindi films. Out of which at least 500-600 movies are not on DVD but video Cassette format. I have been collecting them for a long time from India and abroad. I have made friends on the internet and purchased them.

How did you turn out to be a Movie Buff?

Amitabh Bachchan has always been a big inspiration for me. My father was more inclined towards Hollywood cinema. I used to go to other people’s house to watch Hindi Cinema, have watched films on roads. I used to bunk school to watch films.

Once I was lost because of a movie poster. I was with my family travelling out of Mumbai. I have no clue in the hustle when did I leave my mother’s hand and went and stood in front of the poster. Till they reached the train they realised I wasn’t around. I was in my own dream world imagining what will happen in the movie. Luckily there was a cop who caught me and he sat with me till my family actually located me.

You graduated as an Architecture and Interior Designer. What made you choose radio over it?

Before getting into radio I had my own business. But side by side I was also into writing movie reviews for a website. Later Anurag Pandey got into the picture which was also not a task as I managed my radio schedule on weekends. But later it started increasing day-by-day and I had to choose one out of the two and here I am.

Now that you are into radio, what are your future goals with radio?

My goal is to preach about Hindi Cinema to everyone. What is happening with the new generation is we are exposed to Netflix and Holywood, I have no issues with it. My concern is we are forgetting our roots, the generation does not know what has already happened in the past. We are simply restricted to the last 10 years of Bollywood.

Why are people recreating the old songs? Because they are the hit-making songs. These re-made songs weren’t that hit during their time, but the new versions are the new hitmakers.

Do you have any plans for expansion?

Of course, there are plans but such kind of full-fledged shows require a lot of trivia. I do have enough information but I do not want to restrict only to that data.  I think I won’t be able to do justice to trivia and this is something that I don’t want to do. I don’t think my collection of data is enough for a show now. I will expand when I am satisfied with my package of knowledge. I want it to be a full content driven show so I want to be high on content.