Sony jiving to reality music contest beat

Nisu thumbnail
20th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 19 years ago
#1

Sony's Celebrity Fame Gurukul also projects tremendous gusto for life. Hell, these 'celebrities' are no singers. They aren't even celebrities in the true sense (some of the guys in the guise of stardom wouldn't be recognized if they step out on the road). But they've a will to sound right.

I loved what the totally atonal Tisca Arora told the tolerant judges Javed Akhtar and Alka Yagnik. "I know I sing badly. But I want to sing. So what's wrong with doing it?" And then on a lighter note she added, "When I think of the songs in my head they sound so right. It's only when the words come out of my mouth that they come out so wrong."

Attagirl! I love that spirit. And Tisca is truly a proud product of television. I love her work in Zee's stumbling-doddering political soap Sarkarr… almost as much as I like Divya Dutta as the sweet angelic Punjabi kudi in Star's Shanno Ki Shaadi.

****


Buoyed by the success of the two music hunts Indian Idol and Fame Gurukul - the former's winner Abhijeet Sawant's album Aapka Abhijeet has made him the largest-selling pop artiste of India, ahead of Abhijeet's idol Sonu Nigam! - Sony Entertainment has decided to pull off a massive stunt.

"We've selected 5 contestants from Indian Idol and 5 from Fame Gurukul, put them together for a stunt called Dus Ke Dus Le gaye Dil, informs Sony's executive vice-president Tarun Katial. "Sure, we've no qualms in admitting it's a stunt. But a very viable stunt, you've to admit. Everyone is interested in the Idol and Fame finalists. Look at Abhijeet Sawant and Qazi Tauqeer. Qazi may not be a fantastic singer. But he's a star! We're proud to have produced these bright young stars on these two shows, and now they're going to come together for a whopping finale of sorts."

The Dus candidates ready to croon their arts out are Prajakta Shukre, Aditi Paul, Harish Moyal, Rahul Saxena, Ravinder Ravi, Arpita Mukherjee, Shamit Tyagi, Arijit Singh, Mona Bhatt and Anubhav Suman. The show goes on air from 4th November every evening at 8:30 p.m. till 18th November.

Says Katial, "The idea is to re-package the popular faces and voices in a new experience. We at Sony are definitely into reality music contests. Besides Indian Idol 2, which will be a bi-weekly, we're gearing up for our big game show Deal Ya No Deal , also a bi-weekly, which goes on air on 23rd .We're going easy on the soaps… But we do have a new daily Ek Ladki Anjani Si going on air from 4th November."

It features Kanchi Kaul (the flop actress from Kuku Kohli's WohTera Naam Tha). The show is being produced by Shrey and Nirja Guleri, thereby lending credence to the belief that Ekta Kapoor and Sony Entertainment are no longer bosom buddies.

"I keep hearing about our fall-out," laughs Katial. "But there has been none. Ekta and I haven't met for weeks. But that's because we're both busy and not because we've fallen out."

Indian Idol 2 returns on 21 November. "Everything including the judges - Anu Malik, Sonu Nigam and Farah Khan - will be the same. But there will be a huge scaling up of everything - including the excitement level."

Commenting on the popularity of Indian Idol, Katial says, "Some of the contestants from Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma have gone all the way to the top, and then auditioned for Indian Idol. The frenzy at the auditions this time is far more pronounced."

source: indiantelevision.com

Related Topics

Top

Stay Connected with IndiaForums!

Be the first to know about the latest news, updates, and exclusive content.

Add to Home Screen!

Install this web app on your iPhone for the best experience. It's easy, just tap and then "Add to Home Screen".