'Music was always in my blood' - Raja Hasan Sagar

Raja's journey to the finals of SRGMP has been a topsy-turvy one. Even though he got selected for the show, he did not get selected in any Gharana and so became a part of the “Eklavya Gharana”. Later Vishal Shekhar selected him for their Gharana, but his brilliant performance on the song Allah Ke Bande could not save him from going into Chakravyuh. And with him that week was none other than Amanat, who in the Chakravyuh round gave a tough competition and got selected. Raja was again eliminated from the contest. Then it was the Brahmastra Round and Vishal Shekhar, while choosing contestants made sure to get Raja back into the contest. After that, he never looked back. What does he say about this? “Frankly, I never thought that I’ll reach the finals. But somewhere down the lane, had a faith too that maybe all the blessings that I got from my elders, my parents would not go waste. I had lot of faith on Allah too.”

Raja got his singing training mainly from his Maternal Grandfather. His father, Rafiq Sagar is himself a ghazal singer and also a music director. Even he had a big role to play in grooming Raja as a singer. “Music was always in my blood”,that’s what Raja says. And how much has SaReGaMaPa helped him grow as a singer? “There has been lot of change when I see myself singing now. Here we are not just learning to sing songs on the stage for the show, but also from all these mentors, SRGMP Guru’s and our Music Directors Mukeshji and Sanjayji. Thy have all guided us a lot. They all taught us many finer details of singing, more importantly playback singing and its ways of presentation.”

Now Raja is a star and even he knows that. Lot has changed in his life now. “There is a big difference in life now. There’s a saying - As long as you had not bought me, none knew about me and now you made me priceless. Same has happened with us now. As long as we were not in SRGMP, none knew us on the road. But now, it is difficult to walk down the streets.” And he thanks Zee TV and SaReGaMaPa producers for making this dream of his come true.

Because of his friendly nature, he is on friendly terms with all the contestants. But he is more close to Aneek. What does he have to say about his other two finalists and how much chance do they have of winning? “It could be any of them. Amanat is a brilliant singer, so is bound to have a big fan following. Aneek, besides being a good singer has many other plus points. He is very innocent and pure at heart. These things also matters a lot to win fan following. I think any of these two can win this contest.” And what about him and to this query, he just laughs it off.

Even though he has reached the finals, and is just one step away from getting the crown, this boy from Bikaner stays humble and rooted to the ground. He is not even eyeing the coveted prize, and has just one message for his fans, “I would like to thank them all to have made me reach this pinnacle. I win or not does not matter. I just have a request that you all pray I sing well and go on doing so ever, so that I can stay in your heart always.”

Born in Bikaner, this soulful singer did not achieve this success overnight, and had to cross many milestones and yet the smile on his face never fades. His fan base is truly intact, and with the finals being just one week away, his fans are giving their best to make him the winner. This contestant who is already a star has a long way to go in the music industry, and sure that he will make a stand of his own. We all wish him luck for the finals and for his bright future!!

Reporter: Barnali
Author: Barnali