If your television set were to stop beaming entertainment one fine day or if someone decided to cut your TV cable connection, wouldn’t it be a disaster? I am one of the few people whose life would go on as usual as if nothing had happened/changed because the saas-bahu soaps don’t interest me and the shouting slanging match that goes on in the name of prime time News or Debate never got me interested.
I do though like to watch a couple of reality shows on telly. An occasional Koffee with Karan, with its potent mix of celebrities and living room gossip, is engaging. Catching a good movie doesn’t hurt either. The hidden singer in me also loves to follow the singing reality shows like Indian Idol. These days, I am heart and neck deep into the current season of Indian Idol, the song-based reality show on Sony TV, which has some exceptional singers.
For a music lover, it is heartening to hear this talented bunch of singers. Don’t know by design or chance, the show has singers from across the length and breadth of the country. Majority of the contestants have seen hardship in their lives before making it to the show. The list of contestants includes –
Indian Idol 9 Contestants with Rekha and Vishal Bharadwaj
- Khuda Baksh, a powerful singer from Punjab, who has seen rough days after the death of his qawwal father
- The Jagrata boy Mohit Chopra, another strong contender, who hails from Jahangirpuri, Delhi
- LV Revanth, who has already made his debut in playback singing with a song in Baahubali and has the looks and body language of a hero
- Maalavika Sundar, who has trained in a Gurukul since childhood opting to stay away from her parents to pursue sangeet ki sadhna (the end surely justifies the means)
- The whimsically talented PVSN Rohith (he stammers while speaking but his voice and flow is like honey and sugar when singing)
- Tejinder Singh from Faridabad who can sing in the voice of a girl as well as guy
- RP Shravan, the trained singer, from Tamil Nadu, who wowed the judges and the audience alike with his effortless and error free rendition of Ketaki Gulab ki, a 1960’s classic sung by Manna Dey & Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
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Hubby and I have been making sure to catch the weekend episodes for our fix of good singing. It was sad to see RP Shravan getting eliminated in one of the early rounds. The net result hubby refused to watch the next episode…it was then I knew that Shravan was his favourite.
Leaving aside this pain, the show definitely throws up talented singers. After the initial push, it depends on the persistence and sheer will of the singer to push the boundaries, struggle, continue to evolve and survive and then continue to shine in the industry.
The two golden rules for being successful and continuing to succeed are
- Never give up and continue to persevere and evolve
- Don’t let success go to your head
A good example is Arijit Singh, who did not give up even after losing in the TV show “Fame Gurukul”. For many days he did not get work as a singer. He chose to struggle; worked as an assistant music director till he got a chance to sing in Aashiqui 2 and the rest as they say is history. He was not a winner in the TV show where he participated; he continued to work on his talent and dream. His hard work and determination finally paid off and made him the Voice of the Modern day hero in the Hindi film industry.
Khuda Baksh, my favourite contestant, admitted that his initial success on the show had gone to his head. The result was a couple of insipid performances where he seemed out of place and failed to rise up to the bar that he himself had set up. It was a case of “too much too soon”, he said. To his credit he realized this and picked himself up. The result is that he is again back in form and hitting the right notes and the bull’s eye in his songs, connecting with the audiences and earning applause from the judges.
Winning the contest is not the end, rather participating is part of journey to showcase your talent and let the music directors/companies pick you. As Tejinder Singh, who was evicted last week said, “I’m leaving Indian Idol but I’m not leaving singing”. It is your attitude and actions that will ultimately define your success or failure. A contest like Indian Idol will have one winner as per its format. But all those who do not win the contest, you are not a failure till you decide to give up on your training and dream.
I’m sure we have not seen the last of RP Shravan. If he keeps at it, continues to practice and works hard at his skill, and is ready to struggle till he gets the right opportunities, it is only as matter of time before we will hear him singing – in our movies or on the radio or TV sets at home. Who knows!
