Maestro Ghulam Ali takes Chhote Ustaad Jayant as student

After gracing the sets of Star Voice of India Chhote Ustaad with his presence as a celebrity judge, famous ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali now takes Chhote Ustaad star Jayant as his singing protégé.

The Telly Buzz team caught up with the renowned singer and asked him why he chose Jayant as his student. Ghulamji answers, “There are many reasons for choosing him as my student. The main reason I am on this show is because of Gajendra Singh as he is like a younger brother to me. When I had come as a celebrity guest on the show the last time, Jayant came up to me and told me that he would not wear his spectacles unless I agree to teach him and everyone knew he had an eye problem and cannot see without them. Since I had promised him, I had to fulfill it.” We asked him what he is looking for in a singer and he replies, “It is very important that a singer has knowledge of the sur when he is singing. In addition to that he should also bear in mind the feelings associated with the song. Learning to sing is easy, but it is difficult to express it.”

And what made you choose a student from a reality show? Ghulamji says “Yes this is the first time I have chosen a student from a reality show.” He goes on to add “But he is a lot like me. I was also very stubborn. If I had to sing for films, I would always want to sing ghazals.” Annotating on the current genre of music in the film industry, he says, “Music is good. Most of the songs sung in movies are mainly based on the situations. So if the situation is good, so will be the songs. But in today’s songs, there is too much of noise. The lyrics do not have any meaning and do not stir the soul as older melodies did.”

We also asked him how he felt seeing such an avid interest in ghazal singing from the younger generation, to which he replies, “It feels really nice to see such young kids interested in ghazal singing. Today’s generation doesn’t really listen to classical music, but it seems nice to know that there a few who appreciate the same music.”
Reporter: Ranjini Nair
Author: Melanie