RJ Ophelia

Ophelia Santhaselvi, popularly known as Imsai Arasi ("Queen of Mischief") and RJ Ophelia (RJ Ophe for short), is an Indian radio jockey and television show host based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She is best known for her unique voice and Tamil slang, humour and rapid speaking rate. She has worked at 92.7 BIG FM and at 94.3 Radio One. Though mainly a radio jockey, she is also active in other fields such as emceeing, television, social media and films, and is regularly involved in various social causes.

In this Indian name, the name Santhaselvi is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Ophelia.

RJ Ophelia
RJ Ophe hosting an event in 2014
Born
Ophelia Santhaselvi[1]

19 November
Other namesImsai Arasi, RJ Imsai, RJ Ophe
OccupationMedia personality
Years active2006–present

Early life

Ophelia was born in a Tamil middle-class family in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[2] Her father wanted to give her a "rare name" and named her after Ophelia, the character from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.[1] Her father is a retired Traffic Manager of Metropolitan Transport Corporation, while her mother works for Bharat Petroleum. She has a younger brother. Ophelia did her schooling at Holy Angels Convent, T. Nagar and graduated in commerce from Stella Maris College.[2] During her college days, the joy of performing on stage for cultural events and plays made her realize she wanted to be in media, and she went on to do her post-graduation in mass communication from M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women. She has said that even then she was afraid of talking to strangers, and it was her internship at the Indian Express that helped overcome the fear. In 2006, she was one of four radio jockeys selected by the then upcoming 92.7 BIG FM after a two-month audition process of thousands of candidates.[3][4]

Career

Radio

Ophelia worked at BIG FM for seven years since June 2006. She hosted the afternoon and later the morning shows, during which time she gained popularity as RJ Imsai Arasi for her humor and style of speech.[5] Her lively afternoon radio shows were markedly different from other placid shows in the same time-band and changed the perception that noon shows were supposed to be calm and mild.[6] After quitting Big FM,[7] she moved to 94.3 Radio One in 2013 and hosted their evening prime-time show for two years. Currently, she works as a freelancer.

Emcee

Ophelia has compered several of Big FM's press meets, award ceremonies and other on-ground events; soundtrack release functions of films including Pichaikkaaran and Osthi; and various other events of corporate companies (including Samsung & Nokia), NGOs and government bodies.

Television

In 2012, Ophelia started her television career anchoring School Savari, a weekend kids show on Chutti TV.[8] In 2013, she hosted Studio 6, a weekly celebrity interview show on Zee Tamil.[9] Later that year, she moved on to host Comedyil Kalakkuvathu Eppadi, a weekly skit-based comedy show on Star Vijay.[10] She has also anchored several standalone shows of prominent Tamil television channels, and also appeared as a guest or participant in various chat and game shows.

Awards

Ophelia was recognized as the Best Female RJ for the years 2009 and 2012 in the annual Vikatan Awards given by Ananda Vikatan, a leading Tamil weekly Magazine.[11] She has won the RJ of the Year (Tamil) award at the prestigious Indian Excellence in Radio Awards (IRF) in 2009 [12][13] and 2010;[14][15] her show Jill Jill Neram was also named the Best Programme Broadcast after 11 am (Tamil) in 2010.[16]

Filmography
YearFilmRoleLanguage
2014Nimirndhu Nilas a reporter
2016Pichaikkaranas a Radio Jockey

References
  1. "Big FM RJ Ophilia Santhaselvi Imsai Arasi images Tamil picture gallery images". Behindwoods. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  2. "Namma radio rockstars". Deccan Chronicle. 23 April 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  3. "Chennai gets its very own BIG FM". Sify. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  4. "BIG to hit airwaves soon". The Hindu. 21 September 2006. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. "Imsai Unlimited". The Hindu. 2 November 2007. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  6. "Award winning torture". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. ‘விஜய், அஜித்துக்கு ஒரு ஸாரி...!’ ஒஃபீலியா ஃபிலீங்ஸ் [‘Vijay, sorry to Ajith ...!’ Ophelia Feelings]. www.vikatan.com (in Tamil).
  8. "youtube School savari promo".
  9. "01fr-serials". The Hindu. 1 February 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  10. "Channels". The Hindu. 12 July 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. "BIG 92.7 FM's RJ gets best RJ of the year 2008 award". Merinews.com. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  12. "> News Headlines > Red FM sweeps honours at IRF awards". Indiantelevision.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  13. U Tejonmayam. "Award winning torture". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  14. "Big FM, Maxus triumph at Radio Awards with Nokia campaign". Radioandmusic.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  15. "Retail Plus Chennai : Happenings". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  16. "Indian Excellence in Radio Awards 2010: Red FM, Big FM bag 9 awards each; Maxus sole media agency winner". Exchange4media.com. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2013.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.