How Shabana saved Javed

By Subhash K Jha

When in a crisis it's the spouse who is expected to come to the rescue.

Shabana Azmi who made a career out of playing the rebellious wife is one of the most devoted wives in real life.

She proved it last week when she readily and quickly stepped into Javed's place in Sony's music contest Indian Idol.

Says Javed, "I had to go to the US, and there was no way I could cancel either my trip or the recording of Indian Idol. I was in a fix. It was then that I suggested that Shabana take my place for one episode."

Once in the US, Javed was nervous as hell about his wife's performance in his place. "I anxiously rang up the Sony heads to inquire how Shabana had done.

To my delight they were thrilled by her command over the situation and her ease with the contestants. I guess there're some people who get it right, no matter what they do. Shabana is one of them. Now I'm apprehensive they might ask her to take my place on Indian Idol," jokes Javed.

He's all for the onslaught of music contests on Indian television. "It's a very very heartening trend. I first judged Fame Gurukul now Indian Idol.And though there's no Lata Mangeshkar or Kishore Kumar on these shows, some of these contestants are really good."

What about the charge that these wannabes fizzle out with the show?

Javed Saab is totally against this line of thought. "When we say they fizzle out or that they don't make it we only mean that they don't become successful playback singers. Of course Shreya Ghosal and Kunal Ganjawala came from these music contests. But that isn't the be-all of their dreams.

Roop Rekha from Fame Gurukul or Abhijeet Sawant from Indian Idol 1 may not be singing film songs. But they're earning more than what they ever dreamt of. Many of these contestants come from extremely modest backgrounds. At the least they finish from the show with many live shows in their kitty. How many Indians earn 3-4 lakh rupees a month, like these contestants do?"

Javed Saab now intends to be a part of Indian Idol regularly. "I enjoy the process of watching new talent emerge from the show."