Spotify's first Tamil Original Podcast


நாலணா à®®ுà®±ுக்கு - The RJ Balaji Podcast! In today's world we see / hear a lot of negative and wrong things every day. But there are plenty of good things to talk about and listen to. Ask them with RJ Balaji's trademark humor? That is Spotify's first Tamil Original.

 

Swedish audio streaming platform Spotify has announced a new original podcast "Naallanna Murukku - The RJ Balaji Podcast", hosted by radio jockey, actor, director, comedian, commentator, and social activist, Balaji Patturaj, popularly known as RJ Balaji.


The show that's in an infotainment format, will talk about common issues that the country faces, and bring guests to share their views and experiences, Spotify said in a statement.


RJ Balaji


RJ Balaji, who is known for his candid and witty style of hosting, starts the 15-minute-long introductory episode by speaking about the lockdown and the changes it has brought into people’s day to day lives. He recounts several instances from the lockdown that strikes a chord with people: be it taking up new hobbies, the difficulties of juggling work-from-home and household chores or one’s compulsion towards being productive. After sharing his experiences from the lockdown, he moves on to discuss social media and gives a sneak peek into his personal journey

 

About "Naallanna Murukku" - The RJ Balaji Podcast

It’s not something like ‘Koffee with Karan’. By 2010 or 2011, much before ‘Why This Kolaveri’ and when crosstalk was viral on the internet, the content on the internet was a bit innocent. There’s a lot of negative content that gets a lot of traction. It’s very scary. I felt this is a medium where I could speak about good things in a funny way (but not preach). There’s a lot of content around us and we don’t need celebrities. I want to keep it simple and approachable. 


Behind the Tittle of "Naallanna Murukku"

The reason to name it ‘Naalana Murukku’ was because ‘Spotify’ and ‘podcast’ are alien words to us. The first option we had was ‘The RJ Balaji Podcast’ but it didn’t feel right. Before the lockdown, I didn’t know how to use Amazon Prime or Netflix. I always thought Sun TV, Raj TV and Vijay TV were the right things for me. So, I wanted the name to be accessible. I wanted to talk about things that everyone likes in an accessible way.