Rang De Controversy:HT Article:

I t's Independence Day in a couple of days and under- standably, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 is doing a special. But what got us all excited was the apparent controversy when the Pakistani contestants were asked to sing Indian patri- otic songs. We got all hot and bothered and scurried around, trying to dig up more dope. And came out.. well.. a little disappointed. Here's why: First call to Mussarat Abbas (Pakistani contestant). He said, "There was no contro- versy. We have been asked to sing any song, which reflects our love for our country." He will be singing Tere bina dil na lage, a song sung by Karachi based singer Faqeer. Okay, no problems there. Next call to Ashish Kaul, Executive Vice President, Zee TV. His take: "All of us had gathered around to decide about this Independence day special episode. And the Pakistani singers suggested that since their Independence day fell just a day before our own, they would like to sing songs which reflect the love for their nation. "We felt that it was a nice suggestion and so we agreed," he said. Okay .. But it was our the third call which shed a little more light into matters at Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Amanat Ali (reluctantly) said, "There was no controversy nor was there any discussion about the special episode. In fact, we never give our inputs for any episode. We simply sing what we have been told to sing." How about for conflicting thought, huh? Maybe we should go to the sets and find out for ourselves. Meanwhile, tune in tonight at 10 p m on Zee TV for some non-controversial performances.