Date:29/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/29/stories/2008032961011100.htm

Kerala

The master of reality shows

P.K. Ajith Kumar

— Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Voice talent: Singer Shaan at a meet–the-press programme in Kozhikode on Friday.

Kozhikode: Shaan is not just one of the finest singers in Bollywood today, he is also one of the better anchors on television. He is extremely articulate and has a fine sense of humour. All of which was evident at his interaction with the media at Kozhikode on Friday, ahead of his Idea Rocks India concert in the city.

“The Kochi show last week went off fabulously well, despite heavy rain,” Shaan said. “It had also rained in Visakhapatanam, where I did my last Idea concert. Yes, it seems rain follows me.”

Shaan, who has hosted a couple of popular music-based reality shows on television, said the practice of turning SMSes into vote banks, based on community and region, needs to be discouraged. “Ideally a large panel, say of 40 experienced musicians, should choose the winners,” he said. “The reality shows have come a long way in India and they help young singers get opportunities pretty fast.”

He said winning the Filmfare award for the best playback for the second year in a row recently came as a big surprise. “Since I had won it last year and ‘Sawariya’ didn’t do too well at the box office, I thought I had little chance of getting the award this year. I was doing a stage show in Kochi when the Filmfare award ceremony was being held in Mumbai. I was really surprised when I came to know about my victory late in the night.”

He said it was the accent that prevented singers from the South making it really big in Bollywood. “I know many Bollywood singers singing in regional languages, which, I feel, is a bit unfair on the local talents. Besides, you may not be able to do full justice to a song when you don’t know the language.” Shaan said he was happy to see melody reign supreme in Bollywood once again, with songs from films like ‘Om Shanti Om’, ‘Sawariya’ and ‘Guru’ doing well. “It’s heartening to see Bollywood coming up with all kinds of songs these days.”

Sumedha, a promising singer who was a finalist of the ‘Saregamapa’ show on Zee TV, and B. Binoy, head, marketing, Idea, Kochi, also attended the press meet.