“My name is Ravikumar A.V., 65 years old, from Chennai. I was born and brought up in Thirunavaya, a small village in Kerala. During my school days, I loved participating in dramas and mono-acts. By the time I reached college, I had developed a keen interest in mimicry - imitating film stars, natural sounds, and even mechanical sounds such as a steam engine.
In 1980, I won many awards at university and state-level competitions for mimicry and soon began getting opportunities to perform on various stages. My father was naturally worried about my future if I chose mimicry as a profession, so after completing my degree, he sent me to Mumbai, where I began my career as a medical representative. But my passion followed me there. I formed Tarangini Orchestra with a partner, Mani Nair, which became one of the leading South Indian orchestra groups in Mumbai at the time. I performed mimicry, worked as an MC for nearly nine years, and also took part in around 350-400 programmes alongside several well-known playback singers and artists.
Life then took a different direction. After marriage and becoming a father, I decided to give greater attention to my career and family. In 1991, I joined my brother in the logistics business and moved from Mumbai to Chennai to start Flyjac Logistics. It grew from a small team of 4 into one of the largest organization in India, with more than 5,000 employees, a turnover of over Rs. 1,400 crore, and offices across India and the Middle East. In 2010, Flyjac became part of the Hitachi group, and I was fortunate to continue as MD & CEO till 2024. Today, I am Chairman of an IT company developed by my son Akash. I am deeply grateful for what I could achieve professionally, although during those busy years my performance was mostly limited to family and official functions.
Even then, the passion never left me. I began experimenting with a different form of performance. Instead of simply imitating sounds, I started creating live sound effects for visuals projected on a screen. Over time, this evolved into a unique form of art that my friends named “Sound Illusion.” Using only my voice, I recreate the sounds of movie trailers, steam engines, sports, news, music, and many other situations while the visuals play on screen. I describe it simply as: “The video is real, but the sound is illusionary.”
Then, in 2016, something unexpected happened. Someone had uploaded one of my performances on YouTube, and I received a direct invitation from India’s Got Talent for an audition. I was selected by all three judges for the next round and received wonderful appreciation. Unfortunately, the next shoot coincided with a long-planned trip to the Maldives for my wedding anniversary, so I could not continue in the competition. But that experience gave me renewed confidence and encouraged me to take my passion more seriously and keep creating new performances.
Since then, I have had the privilege of performing at corporate events, cultural programmes and large gatherings in India and abroad, including Japan, Bali, China, Europe and the Middle East. Over the years, I have performed at more than 500 programmes. One of my most treasured compliments came when I performed before global Hitachi leaders in Japan. After the programme, the President of Hitachi applauded and said, “You are the CEO of Flyjac, and now I declare you as the CEO - our Chief Entertainment Officer!” Those words have stayed with me ever since.
Another appreciation that remains very special came after I recently performed the Kantara trailer in Mumbai. One of the office bearers told me that she normally does not watch movies, but after seeing my Sound Illusion performance of the trailer, she wanted to watch the full movie Kantara. That made me extremely happy. I felt that if my performance could create an emotion and inspire someone in that small way, the sound illusion had truly made an impact.
Last year, I participated in Khyaal 50 Above 50 - India’s Biggest Talent Hunt for Seniors in the Special Category and was selected among the Top 10 finalists. I am grateful to Khyaal for creating a platform that encourages seniors to rediscover their talents, pursue their passions and give themselves another opportunity to dream.
My biggest challenge is to keep creating something new. An audience should not feel that they are hearing the same performance again and again, so I constantly think about bringing more variety, creativity and surprise into Sound Illusion.
For me, this talent is ultimately about happiness. If something I create can make another person happy, it makes me happy too. I am 65, and I still have dreams. One of them is to get another opportunity to perform on India’s Got Talent. I don’t know where this journey will take me next. But I am excited to explore this path.
My message to fellow seniors is: If you have a talent or passion, never give up on it. Start again, do what makes you happy, and pursue your passion without worrying about perfection.” - Ravikumar A.V. (Khyaal Club Member)