Aired on March 20th on Star Plus an Indian Channel
I am an avid music buff. I love to listen and croon music of all genres - classical to the popular Bollywood songs. Amongst the innumerable fare churned by Bollywood every month or rather every day, songs with meaningful lyrics, lovely melody and great playback singing appeal to me. So if you want to say am choosy well yes I am. I accept! So naturally I was drawn to this newest musical reality show of Star Plus - Music ka Maha Muqable where Music directors like Shankar Mahadevan, Himesh Reshammiya and excellent singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Shaan were the participants. I choose not to bore you with elaborating on the format of the game.
On March 20th we watched the grand finale of this show where Shankar Mahadevan and Shaan were contesting for the championship. It was evident that Shaan had a stronger team comprising of capable singers and hence were demonstrating a beautiful team work. Shankar's team consisted of Rahul Vaidya, the only singer of some calibre. So it was Shankar all the way as he was leading his team as a one-man army much like Sachin!
While watching the show I had a bitter argument with my husband. He dislikes Shankar as he is of the opinion that he sings to the masses by rounding off with a Ganpati bhajan. So according to him rather than displaying crooning skills Shankar gets away with all the applauses at live concerts by playing to the audience.
The core point o four argument was: My husband believes that one should not play to the sentiments of the audience. It rids of fairness. But I believe a singer/any performer's first duty is to enthrall the masses. He/she should know the pulse of the masses. A clear idea of the likes/dislikes of the public is essential for any showbiz personality. If you dont know the way to capture their senses and completely mesmerise them, then there's no point.
We all feel at home when someone shows his/her acceptance of our values, beliefs and ethics. Dont we? Dont we a appreciate a Firang when he/she dresses, talk or thinks like us? We do. We are overwhelmed when we find a stranger accepting our traditions as he/she tries to be at one with us. We are thrilled. The same is true for performers. They have to think and act like the masses to be at one and a hit with the masses.
These were my thoughts. What do you think? Pls leave your opinions and I will be glad to respond.
