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Gajendrra quits Zee
Usha Thomas
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 19:02 IST
Part of the channel for over 14 years, the director of successful music talent hunt shows has put in his papers
Gajendrra Siingh is not called a man who has taken 'TV to the next higher level' for nothing! He has an enviable record of making every new format in the musical talent hunt series 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" a bigger success than the earlier one for the last fourteen years. In October, his latest 'L'iL Champs' hit the number one slot on the TAM ratings with an 11.11 TVR upstaging 'Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' (Star Plus), which has ruled the slot for years now.
But now Gajendrra has put in his resignation papers last week and after much deliberation, it has been accepted by the channel. After every series, rival channels have spared no efforts to get him in to their fold but Gajendra would always say, "If ever I would leave, it would be a mutual and amicable parting."
The proliferation of reality talent hunts can be directly attributed to the success of Gajendrra's shows. Despite facing a lot of ridicule when he had first conceptualized 'Antakshari' and 'Sa Re..', he has worked hard at maintaining quality control and did not fall into the trap of making the show merely for garnering TRPs. Since its inception in mid-May 1995, 'Sa Re..', Siingh has taken this programme to the UK, USA, Middle East and Europe, all the while improving the format.
Apart from 'Sa Re Ga..', he has also conceptulaised 'Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj' in 2003, bringing in voting and the format of having expert judges to pick the winner. He has had failures too in 'Sawaal Dus Crore Ka' and 'Baazi Kiski'. Two years ago, Gajendrra had withdrawn from making 'Antakshari' hosted by Annu Kapoor as he was not agreeable to change Annu as the host.
During controversies of scripting drama between judges in the 'Challenge 2005' series, Gajendrra had said, "I went through a lot of trauma reading such baseless reports as my years of hard work and credibility were being questioned. There were times I felt that I should just end the show."
He expressed similar sentiments when he received flak for putting pressure on young kids by expecting them to garner viewer votes to win the contest. Punit Goenka, Zee business head, says, "It's true, we have parted amicably. Gajendrra wants to start his own production company. We are discussing concepts for the future."
