I have been told about the tv reality show Carnatic Idol, similar to indian idol and saregamapa, but only a competition of classical carnatic singers. This show on Jaya tv (Tamil) has a huge following and is more oriented toward advice and mentoring by the judges rather than the overwrought histrionics and idiotic judging that often mars the mumbai film music competitions. I have written about these shows in a previous post and I enjoy them when there are good singers. I like that the line is not so firmly drawn between classical and film music. Granted, saregama used to be more serious about the singing with an emphasis on quality songs from the 60’s and 70’s and guest judges like girja devi, hari chaurasia, etc. Asha Bhosle’s comments as a judge were insightful and pertinent to any kind of music. She also took that opportunity to say some controversial things concerning music directors of the past which Raju Bharatan has discussed in his recent book “A journey down melody lane”. On the other hand the huge success of these singing talent shows has meant that the talent search across India attracts thousands of hopefuls. Most who make it to the finals are really very good, it seems to me. Ghulam Ali had chosen some wonderful singers from Pakistan too in pre-competitions there. Srinivasan from Hyderabad who won the telegu version of Idol then went on to win the last season of Indian Idol didn’t come from a musical family but had extraordinary talent that certainly had me viewing every week. I also went back to see on You tube what he had sung in telegu. The challenging songs he has sung make any distinction between classical and filmi irrelevant.
The question is could a only classical oriented program work in North India? I think there is a huge interest. Latent interest maybe- untapped, unknown and invisible. It cannot compete with the monotonous bollyvulgarity in that holy grail of trps. In the classical sphere there is no unifying institution or event in the north equivalent to the “season” in Chennai, Shruti magazine and the Hindu newspaper. The stars in the classical music world in north india are common, Rashid, Ulhas, Ajoy, rajan and sajan, kishori, parveen, shahid, amjad etc. Yet what do people in mumbai know of the next level of instrumentalists and especially tabla players in Kolkatta? Not much. Nor do the Bongs know much about the 2nd level of singers in mumbai, like Ashak Khadilkar, Vijaya Jadav Gatliwar, Manjusha kulkarni-patil etc. Some of the stars under the leadership of Arvind Parikh have a group that has garnered media attention and met the politicians. I have the highest regard for Pt. Parikh and I hope they are able to come up with some good ideas. The two people who I personally would like to see provide leadership would be Smt. Shubha Mudgal and Smt. Shanta Gokhale. I think they have clarity of vision and the ability to change the status quo . Shubha is the person I could imagine creating the tv show in a new exciting way. Highly successful tv shows in the West like “Lassie”, “The Flintstones”, “The Beverly Hilllbillys” , “Startrek” and “the Apprentice” were new risky ideas whose success was not automatic. Classical music on tv cannot be presented any more as a concert with the predictable intro formula. I myself have seen too many dull programs with pathetic sound out of the little tv speakers- and I love classical music! On the other hand I have found Birju Maharaj talking dancing and singing to be riveting viewing. The late Pt. Ramashreya Jha speaking on music was an incomparable enlightening and entertaining experience. Smt. Shanta Gokhale spoke at the sra seminar earlier this year about the need to change the formula of music criticism is it were to be resurrected and her ideas are relevant in the medium of tv as well.
I think that when it comes to judging any kind of singing talent show the right attitude is important. Positive criticism is better than negative fault-oriented. Here is a blog criticism of that of the Carnatic Idol show http://inthehandsofgrahas.blogspot.com/2011/02/contestants-humiliated-on-carnatic.html I have seen humiliation on the Mumbai shows too and it is irksome coming from the likes of Himesh Reshamaya, Adesh Shrivstava, Abhijeet etc.
I also think that the value of the reality shows like saregamapa is that it helps to de-mystify classical music. The esoteric reputation promoted by the brahmin brigade, (universities, auditions, etc.) is long overdue for some puncturing and I am all in favor of the crossover work of Sonu Nigam, Shubha Mudgal, Rahat Fateh Ali, and especially the brilliant cd of Fateh Ali Khan (not Nusrat fateh ali) called Bandish. I remember the film that Nicolas Magriel showed at the sra semainar some years ago on the youngsters in the mirasi communities in rajasthan learning music from their fathers. What I found interesting was the reactions from the Mumbai music world. I read the excited response to an excellent film as a interesting new discovery to be promoted, indicating the uninformed insular nature of the classical music community. I believe most of the participants in these talent contests know the basics of classical music at least, and some much more than that! It is not the equivalent of pop music and classical music in the West. Maybe Kishore Kumar and K.L. Saigal did not have classical training. Not everyone is a genius.
