Abhijeet ousted from show

The singer was evicted after he shot his mouth off about a Pakistani singer's entry on a reality programme

He has been out of the limelight for quite some time; his playback singing assignments have dwindled and the only thing that has kept him in the spotlight are perhaps the reality shows on television. But playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya had a taste of his own medicine last week when his 'strategy' of opposing the entry of a Pakistani singer on a show backfired and resulted in his own ouster.

It's common knowledge that Zee TV is promoting Indo-Pak friendship through its reality shows. As per the format and strategy of the show Ek Se Badhkar Ek, the channel decided to give Mussarrat Abbas of Pakistan a wild card entry into Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007.

All was well till Abhijeet got a whiff of the decision. He threatened to quit.

We thought of getting Abhijeet's point of view. He says, "I don't understand why the channel is trying to get a Pakistani singer for no reason. If our singers like Harpreet or Emon who have been eliminated in the same show, can't come, how is it that a Pakistani singer can come here out of the blue? I refuse to accept that."

When we told him that Indians too go abroad like the US or UK for better prospects, he shot back, "I am not talking about abroad. I am only talking about the Indian music industry which still has a very limited scope. I mean, they are coming from Pakistan and eating up the share. They have taken almost 10 per cent of the work. Do you think Atif Aslam can sing?"

We thought dragging Atif Aslam's name into the controversy was totally uncalled for and so we reminded him of Raahat Fateh Ali Khan. "Well, I think our singers like Sukhwinder Singh or Shankar Mahadevan can sing better than him any day," he reasoned.

Just when we were getting a hint that he is trying to garner some controversy for himself, he retorts, "I have seen kids and their parents queuing up under the scorching heat to get a chance in the shows. And this is like showing disrespect to them by not giving our kids a chance and giving a Pakistani singer a wild card entry."

Maybe he is not fighting an election, but his strategy bears uncanny resemblance to politico's insular strategies. Only this time it is targeted towards singers in the neighbouring country.

And this time, it has not paid off.

👏🏻 yippy!!!!!!!!!!!! finally, i read this news earlier in the morning but could not see it on any other source so i was in a doubt but now it seems it is true. finally sense revailed in zee tv and they realized that abhijeet's antics were hurting rather than helping. he is a good singer but has racist thoughts. freedom of speech is granted but a person with abhijeet's exposure should exercise some restraint. if singers from other countries come to india then they must be having some merit. they had their share of struggle to reach a place where they were good enough to have exposure in an industry like india's which is famous for its films and music. secondly Abhijeet and people who appreciate his thinking should not feel insecure that one or two singers from outside would eat up their share. it's a huge industry that can accomodate a lot of people. dil ko chotta nahin karna chahiye sharing is the way to go.

Thank God...I m so HAPPY....Finally

Good!! he was getting so annoying...,not fit to be a judge at all!!now i hope zeetv gets some1 sensible for judging.

Originally posted by: Pentaminous

Thank God...I m so HAPPY....Finally

Thank u Zee TV...thank u thank u thank u so so so so much..!!!

i m happy too

Good Job!! 👏🏻 Alka is a much better judge than him.. She can even judge the dance performances much better than Abhijeet...

👏🏻yeah there we go!!.....first judge in the history of reality shows to be evicted lol

Abhijeet did the right thing by opting to walk out. He is a straight forward person who must have been feeling the heat. At least he didn't change his stand when the testing time came. He definitly had some valid points but did not put it in the right way.

Alka is a good judge, hope she does justice🙂 As for Abhijeet, I think it was the right decision by Zee to let him go. The entire situation was becoming a bit too controversial!