, Gajendra recently launched his production house and switched sides to Star and has once again come with a popular show “Voice of India”. Gajendra denies the shift was for money “I owe a lot to Zee. B
ut I wanted to explore more, wanted to stretch myself…unfortunately many people including some in Zee didn’t understand this. Still whenever I get an opportunity I try to catch up with ‘Sa re ga ma pa’.”
Originally from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Gajendra, himself, has no training in music. “Even if I try to hum a single note it would be out of tune. What I have is a passion and ear for music.”
On the near absence of old songs in such shows, Gajendra says, “I want youngsters to sing more and more old melody-based songs in my show. If left to them, participants also want the same, but such songs are difficult and well entrenched in the judges’ memory because they have also learnt rehearsing on the same songs. Hence we feel that singing such songs will put the participant under the scanner too early. So we go for a mixed bag of old and new numbers.”
Gajendra likes the idea of making the participants sing original compositions. “I agree sometimes the clap is for the song not the singer. And after all they have to earn their bread singing something original. Even with commercial constraints, I would like to include the original compositions in the later stages of the show.”
Gajendra clarifies that he never promises a participant that he or she will become a frontline singer after the show. “I tell them to take it is an opportunity to showcase their talent. Even if somebody ranks among top three in the show, it will take him or her three to four years to become a frontline singer.” On appointing singers as judges, when at the end of the day a participant has to work with a composer, Gajendra says singers have their own value. “In the panel of five, I have two singers. They give the participant personal tips like how to justify the composition.”
Gajendra is also responsible for bringing the dramatic content in the talent hunts.
Today eminent judges bicker in front of prime time audience, and hosts become gossip material. “During a long show, it’s inevitable that each judge take a liking to a particular participant. Now when such a participant doesn’t perform well on a given day, the judge tries to defend him by giving example of his previous performance. More often than not, this leads to bickering.”
He continues, “Earlier we used to edit it out. Then some members of the live audience complained that we were showing partial reality. Even today, what we telecast is just 10 per cent of what happens on the sets. If we show the entire footage, people won’t be able to stand it. However, I am completely against showing who is seeing whom. Nothing interests me beyond music.”
ANUJ KUMAR
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