The Kozhikode station of All India Radio has a rich history. Some of Malayalam’s biggest names in literature, music, and cinema used to work at the station. Among them were poet and film director P. Bhaskaran, composer K. Raghavan, authors Uroob and Thikkodiyan and poets Akkitham and N.N. Kakkad.

The voices of three of them — Thikkodiyan, Uroob, and Raghavan — have been recreated using AI for a play that was first broadcast on Saturday, as part of the All Kerala Radio Drama Festival. The play, titled Kaanka, Kadaline Kan Thurakkathe, will be broadcast again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Station turns 75

It is about certain phases of Thikkodiyan’s life, and it is also a tribute to the AIR station, which turned 75 last year. “K.V. Sharath Chandran, who wrote and directed the play, felt we could  make use of AI to bring back to life Thikkodiyan, Uroob and Raghavan,” says Bobby C. Mathew, an announcer at AIR.

“I first recorded their dialogues in my voice and then we turned it into their voices with the help of an AI app. We had sourced their original voices from our archives. The result is fantastic. Thikkodiyan’s daughter Pushpa, who was an announcer at Kozhikode AIR, has also acted in the play, as herself.”

One-hour plays

The drama festival used to be hugely popular during the heyday of the All India Radio, and listeners would look forward to the broadcast of one-hour plays that were produced by various stations in Kerala. “But there had been no festival for the last eight years,” says Bobby. “We are all happy that we could revive it this year. Among the attractions at the festival are two plays featuring actor Mohanlal.”