Indian Idol 3--No, no, the tears are real

How is Indian Idol 3 shaping up? We've completed our first pro- duction phase. We'll be flying to Dubai and London for auditions. All the short-listed candidates will be brought to Mumbai by the end of this month. It's quite hectic because the demograph- ics are huge. You can't imagine the response we've got. It's worth the toil. Why did you change the judges after two seasons? Farah Khan is busy with her film and has alreadty appeared on Jha- lak Dikhlaja on Sony Sonu Nigam . is also tied up with his shows. We're extremely upbeat with our new judges. Udit Narayan and Alisha Chinai are fabulous singers and have the eye to look for hidden talent. That coupled with Anu Mallik's experience as a judge and composer makes the panel awesome. Also, we have guest judges like Javed Akhtar and Kailash Kher who've given the judging process a different direction. Wasn't the relationship between Anu Mallik and Alisha Chinai sour at one point? It may have been but they've moved on. From what I see on the sets, I can tell you they've become more mature with time. They fight and argue but only with respect to the contestants. There's no prob- lem between them otherwise. Isn't your show an adaptation of American Idol? For all I know, American Idol is an adaptation of UK's Pop Idol. I don't think it's fair to call Indian Idol an adaptation of American Idol. The format here is much different from theirs. The germ of an idea did come in but it stopped at that. For all I know, there will soon be a Pakistan Idol as well. But aren't most of your shows adap- tations? You simply can't pass off a show as an adaptation. To adapt a concept with respect to a different audi- ence is a tough task. It takes a lot of creative inputs and brain storming to make it watchable. Galli Galli Sim Sim, I agree, is an adaptation of Sesame Street from Germany To choose a concept for . adaptation is only the beginning. There's a lot more that has to be done to make it appealing. Haven't you'll faced flak for the dra- ma on your show? As a company, we can't take the complete responsibility for an individual's career. We give them the platform but they mustn't get carried away by the fame and glamour that surrounds them for a while. It's momentary. We give the contestants their contracts as promised but after that its their life and profession. The show is only the means. I think Prajakta Shukre, Abhi- jeet Sawant and other contestants from both the seasons are doing well. All the tears shed on the show and comments are real. In fact, sometimes we have to edit what the contestants say because it's derogatory. Whoever calls it dramabaazi, doesn't know the reality behind our show. rachana.dubey@hindustantimes.com