Our date with Kailasa - Article

Shut your eyes, exhale and concentrate - because his music has the power to uplift your soul, soothe your worldly aches and pains, and even transport you to a world he describes through his songs: all because he sings with soul and passion.

He may have humble origins; born in a small village in Meerut and a childhood spent mostly in Delhi, he grew up listening to his father chanting Indian folk songs all day and learning classical music from the age of twelve.

Today, Kailash Kher is one of the jury members on the popular Sony property- Indian Idol. Replacing Udit Narayan, we got straight to the point and asked him, "Is it true that Udit was turning out to be an expensive proposition for Indian Idol?" to which, he jocularly said, " His loss, my gain! Uditji was probably too busy or probably the production house wanted freshness to the show. It is Season 4 and it's bigger and better. And I am the 'it' quotient' of Season 4."

From a station dweller to an Indian Idol judge, he says, "my journey has truly been surreal."

Speaking in chaste Hindi, he says, "I thought I had arrived in the industry when the song Tujh par gagan se was offered to me by music director Aadesh Srivastava. But I was in for a rude shock when I finally got the cassette and heard the same song in Sukhwinder Singh's voice. That was my first step in the learning curve."

From there, to Allah Ke Bandhe, he says, "is what miracles are all about.The song was simple, raw, sung without any pretensions and I didn't imitate anyone and just sang it in my own style."

Moving to the Indian Idol Season 4, Kailasa says, "My first dry run was as a guest judge in the earlier season. I come from a small town in the North. I know the junoon (passion) upcoming singers coming from small towns possess. It was a very humbling experience for me. There is so much talent India has and it is all waiting to be tapped. I feel proud of being part of such a process."

But he defends his stand as a judge in a reality show, "This is a reality show. Even a judge in the Supreme court falters. At the end of the day, we are humans. Yes, we do possess that extra bit of knowledge, but at the end of the day, we too err. To err is human...isnt that what the saying goes?"

And we come to the oft-asked question, Are the fights amongst judges scripted? Vehemently denying the accusation, he says, "How can you say that they are scripted? If there are four people in a room, is it possible that all four of them will have the same opinion? There are differences. Showcasing these differences make you human. The audience connects with the emotions."

In a strange twist, without realising, Kailasa, from being interviewed, turned into the interrogator. He asked me, "Would you watch a show which was plain and simple? Would'nt you tune in to catch something interesting? Yes, a music show should have only music, but when there is a little bit of 'masala' wouldn't it make it a complete entertainer?

He moved on the oft-criticized SMS voting pattern. And whilst we expected our newbie judge to criticize the voting pattern, Kailasa turned around and pulled the rug under our feet by saying, "I support the SMS voting pattern. Tell me how many of the 'educated' Indian actually watch TVThe educated prefer to stay in the sidelines, commenting from the backIt is only the lower strata that connect with the audience

So, if this is their way of voicing and being heard, so be it! I support it!"

The adulation is there…everyone wants to be sing like Kailasa. So much that Anu has been miffed at times when the participants croon Kher's songs. Going by the recent buzz, a team of 6 young men - All India Kailash Fan Club sang a pretty terrible rendition of Kailasa's number, "Teri Deewani" in an audition held in Lucknow. And of course, our Anu Malek, not resisting a moment to drive the nail home, said, " Kailasa tumhare fans toh bohit surile hain!"… to which an upset Kher gave it back to Annu with " Fans hona ek baat hai aur surile doosri!"

Blushing, he said, " I am a simple guy and I am so embarrassed when I see these PYT's who want to hug me…" (To which, we almost roll our eyes!)

Ending our interview, he said, the only bad thing about Indian Idol was it wasn't around when I was struggling. If there were such a platform available for me I wouldn't have to spend weeks sleeping on the Andheri station railway platform!