Originally posted by: punjini
- What are the four genres of songs that you have composed?
Sufi, rock, classical, love ballads, contemporary, western
- Could you please pronounce the French word 'genre' correctly as zawhn ray? Better still, since the programme is in Hindi why not use a Hindi word? Is there no equivalent for 'genre' in Hindi? Instead of screaming "I LOVE YOU" at Asha, how about learning some Hindi from her?
Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with French pronunciations. The English pronunciation is zhawn ruh, and I think I was close enough to that for people to understand what I meant. I admit my pronunciation is not perfect, but since when has accent or pronunciation stopped a person from using language? The attitude that one's pronunciation of English (or French) words determines his capacity for intelligence is one that is steeped in snobbish urban Indian mentality, and I do not subscribe to those beliefs.
As far as me saying 'I love you' to Asha ji, those are my wholly platonic feelings towards that great lady, and while I could express my feelings in Hindi, these 3 words are the simplest and shortest way I can express them. And I am confident that Asha ji has enough capacity for understanding those 3 words, regardless of whether she understand English in general, or not.
- You yell at your students to never sing the songs of Rafi, Lata, Asha and other greats but think it is fine to sing songs of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Could you explain the logic?
The singers who I have asked not to sing those songs do not have the capacity to reach the level of those legends you mention. And by singing these songs in a mediocre manner, they not only hurt themselves in the competition, but also demean the beautiful songs that these legends have given us. As far as the contestant who I have asked to sing RFAK songs, he clearly has the capacity to reach close to the levels that RFAK has set. And he has sung RFAK songs well, while some of the others have not sung the songs of Rafi, Kishore, Asha, Lata, well.
- Why is it so difficult for you to be consistent? One minute you shout "ISMAIL DARBAR ISMAIL DARBAR ISMAIL DARBAR ISMAIL DARBAR" and say he is completely responsible for the good performance of a contestant; next minute you say "lekin aapne bhi utna hi mehnat kiya hain". Please make up your mind.
It is clear that for any contestant to perform well, he/she has to have talent, and needs to practice constantly. Without those efforts, it won't be possible. However, it is also clear that the huge improvement in the contestant's performance on that day has been brought about primarily due to Ismail Darbar's support and guidance. There is nothing inconsistent in those statements. Any logical person would know that a mentor alone cannot carry the singers. So rather than take each word of the statement literally, it would be nice to consider them in the light that they have been made.
- Could you keep your sentences short? We all have short attention spans and cannot listen to a discourse every time.
I have been paid by Zee TV to talk and express my views. In fact, let me tell you about the show. I am not the only person who goes into detail. Every mentor on the show talks to some extent about the performances and about their contestants. It's just that Zee TV tends to edit out much of their views and keep a lot of my views. In other words, they give me a greater percentage of the screen time than what I occupy in the actual shoot - maybe for TRP reasons? Frankly I don't have a say at the editing table. I suggest you take up this issue with Gyan Sahay, and ask him to have my extra comments edited out.
- You tell your students that versatility is not important, being good in one genre is important. You have already slotted your contestants into various genres and have assumed that they cannot sing anything else. How come Mussarat was able to sing a Rafi song like "gulaabi aankhey" when you had slotted him as a Sufi singer??
Mussarat sang 'Gulabi aankehin' well, but there are many professional singers, both A-list and strugglers, who can sing that song well. I have stressed that in order for Mussarat to succeed, he needs to make his mark in a specific, rare genre. I have experienced with Vinit, who was also excellent in Sonu/Rafi songs, that it is very difficult to break into the industry unless you are unique. When a singer like Vinit, who lives in India, doesn't get any breaks in Bollywood (apart from me), then why would they give a break to Mussarat all the way from Pakistan? If you look at the recent influx of Pakistani singers in Bollywood (RFAK, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Atif Aslam, Adnan Sami) you will see that they have been given opportunities because they can sing the type of songs that currently no professional Indian singer does - in other words, they have a unique niche. I also want Mussarat to develop a unique niche for himself, if he wants to be in demand in Bollywood.
- Your intention of ensuring that your contestants are always well-fed and well-off is laudable. But isn't this contest about choosing the best voice of all? The best voice will emerge only after subjecting it to various tests - of singing various genres (your fave word!).
In today's ultra competitive world, simply a great voice is not enough to break into the Indian music field. C2005 had some amazing singers with amazing variety, but none of them have really broken in, save an odd song or two. For India, this is about choosing the best voice, but for the contestants, this is about getting a chance to break into Bollywood. I want to mould my contestants to give them the best possible chance to break into Bollywood and realize their dream.
- Why do you need to get up and sing the same song immediately after a contestant has finished singing your composition? We know you have a unique, God-gifted voice, but please spare us - we just heard the contestant!
I have learnt from Asha ji that the best way to explain to a contestant, and to viewers, about what you really want is to sing it out for them, to point out how they should sing it. That is how all of us mentors explain to them while preparing them for songs, and I carry that a step forward in the show as well. Once again, this is usually a 3-4 hour shoot, where apart from the contestants' singing, we comment and share views, and singing is also a part of it - what you see on TV is the edited verion. So like I said, it is Zee's choice to show the clip of me singing on the show - they can choose to edit it out, since I do not sing it for them to show it on TV, but simply as part of the learning process for the contestants themselves. Like I said, contact Gyan Sahay to air your concerns.
- It is so noble of you to take some of your contestants on a world tour with you. But please, will you allow them to sing songs not composed by you?
I will surely consider your request; however, the final decision will be taken based on the creative input that I receive for the shows. I am not the sole decision maker on the song choice - I also have to consider what my organizers want, what the audience wants, and what the singers themselves want to sing. Since it is billed as a Himesh Reshammiya concert, people will expect to hear primarily my songs. Having said that, I have in the past had singers in my shows sing songs not composed by me - so it clearly depends on the situation.
