Ep 43 - MJ Rakesh | From ₹350 a Day to 500+ Sporting Events | Prof Ulfat Sultan, RCB, Stadium Voice

What does it take to make 1,25,000 people inside a Cricket Stadium cheer for the opposing team? Ask MJ Rakesh — Bengaluru's most electrifying voice, the face behind the legendary Prof Ulfat Sultan, and the man who has hosted over 500 sporting events across the world. In this episode of jimmyjimmytheshow, Bangalore's own storytelling podcast, we sit down with MJ Rakesh — MC, sportainment host, Radio One alumnus, All India Radio graduate, Bigg Boss contestant, and a Bangalorean to his very bones. This is a conversation about grit, craft, language, identity, and what it truly means to own a mic. Rakesh's journey begins not on a stadium stage but on a Commercial Street terrace during Dasara — making store announcements for ₹350 a day. From there, he auditioned for All India Radio (AIR), got ₹850 per show, held three ID cards simultaneously (HP, All India Radio, and an event management company), and built himself into one of India's most respected MCs and Masters of Ceremonies — one sold gig, one crowd, one perfect punchline at a time. At Radio One Bengaluru, Rakesh didn't just climb the ladder from Associate Producer to Programming Manager — he created Prof Ulfat Sultan, a character who speaks Dakhni (dilapidated Urdu laced with Bangalorean street flavour) and became a cultural institution. Ulfat Sultan went from being nearly rejected by the Radio One creative head to running for 275 scripts over 10 years. Shivajinagar literally crowned him God. That's not metaphor — that's Bengaluru. As the official RCB host at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Rakesh has hosted IPL matches for Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He coined "Bengaluru! Who! Who are we! RCB!" — a chant that reverberates to this day. He invented the "ABD" crowd cheer for AB de Villiers. He has hosted ICC Men's T20 World Cup Finals, ICC Women's World Cup Finals, the ICC Men's World Cup 2023 (including the heartbreaking India vs Australia final), Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, Pro Kabaddi, ISL Football, and the Hockey World Cup. Six World Cups in total. He's spoken Bengali at Eden Gardens, Marathi in Mumbai, and Kannada everywhere — because for Rakesh, language is identity. Then there's the story nobody expected: In 2009, Rakesh contested as an independent candidate in the Shivajinagar constituency elections in Bangalore — not for power, but to prove a point about civic participation. This is a master class in stage craft, timing, audience psychology, sound engineering, and the kind of dogged Bengaluru hustle that no business school teaches. 🔥 Peak Bengaluru Moments The ₹350 Dasara Shift — Making store announcements from a Commercial Street terrace for 8 hours a day. The original mic hustle, Bengaluru-style. Sneaking Sultan On Air — Rakesh sweet-talked Anil Machado into giving Prof Ulfat Sultan just four days of airtime. Ten years and 275 scripts later, Shivajinagar had a new God. Making Chinnaswamy Cheer for Pakistan — At a Pakistan vs Sri Lanka ICC match in Bangalore, Rakesh got an entire anti-Pakistan crowd to chant for Babar Azam. That's not just MC work. That's sorcery. The Shivajinagar Election Bid (2009) — An independent candidate who says, "Had I contested seriously, I would have won hands down." Only in Bengaluru. "Dear Bangalore, Please Don't Leave" — His postcard to the city that made him. No edit needed. Perfect as is. Whether you're a cricket fan, a radio nostalgia buff, a Bangalorean who grew up on Radio One, or someone who simply loves a great human story — this one is for you. 🎙️ Subscribe to jimmyjimmytheshow for more Bangalore-rooted conversations with the people who made this city what it is.