A different type of programme, this one comes as a welcome departure from the irritable Saas bahu fare. The programme perhaps owes its genesis to the successful talent hunt launched by Channel V a couple of years ago, but this effort is one-up on the Channel V one because of the quality of judges is much better: its better to have Anu Malik and Sonu Nigam than, say, likes of Palash Sen, Nitin Bali and similar part-timers.
One may question the choice of Farah Khan on the panel; perhaps her choreographer (and now film-director) moorings are being used to justify her ability to evaluate the dancing/presentable side of the participants. After all, given the fact that the winner will cut an album with Sony implies that he/she would figure in its promotional video and for that, the person has got to be presentable (cruel logic, but sadly that is what it means nowadays in an era where we don’t just listen to music, we ‘see’ it).
Indian Idol evokes a feeling that is markedly different from Zee’s Sa re ga ma (and Shaan’s Pa!). While Sa re ga ma pa is intended at showcasing this vocal prowess of upcoming singers, Indian Idol is a talent hunt aimed at identifying an entertainer who can sing well and is presentable too! Whereas the participants of Sa re ga ma pa do meet the basic threshold standards one needs to be a singer, Indian Idol is a no-holds-barred saga with participants ranging from very good singers to very bad bathroom singers!
For some participants, you have their bathroom singing status confirmed at the very beginning and therefore its not a question of whether judges would approve of his/her selection to the next round or not, its about how much of a clown he/she makes of himself (and entertain us) before being shown the door. Not all participants come to showcase their talent: some are only interested in seeing the judges in flesh and blood. One guy told the Anu-farah-Sonu trio that he was unwell but was so keen to participate that he took painkiller injections and every time he would receive the needle prick, he would cry in pain ‘aaaah sonuuu’ instead of ‘ooui maa’.
Then there was this funky dude who showcased his arrogance to the hilt and alleged that the panel was rude to him. He started his 2-minute time slot by performing aerobic exercises and when a flabbergasted Farah as ked him what he was doing, the dude said “I have to do it before I sing, .. I have a problem, please don’t make fun of me.” When Anu Malik told him he was not good enough to make it to the next level, the dude retorted, “toh yeh baat aap tameez se bhi keh sakte the.”
The case of two sisters from Patna was rather interesting. The younger one, first to face the jury, did not make any great impact on the trio initially, what with a just about OK voice and rather cheap dance steps. The trio granted her another chance and she performed much better this time, minus the remix-video inspired steps, and made it to the next round. Coming out of the judge’s room, she advised her elder sister to concentrate on singing, as the jury was not to keen on the dance steps. But elder sister had some other ideas. She performed badly with ultra vulgar steps to go with her bland voice. She was promptly rejected by the trio. She then fumblingly told the trio that the people outside had advised her that the jury was keen on seeing the song as well as dance of the participants (even though her sister had told her just the opposite). The lady later alleged that the jury her told her at the very outset that they could not take both the sisters and one had to sit out. No wonder the programme walas played the Bobby number “Jhoot bole kauwa kate’ in the background!
Most hilarious was the incognito act of Usha Uthup, who dressed up as a Tamilian gentleman with the trademark drooping moustache. None of the judges could recognize her first-up, though on hindsight one feels the entire act might have been faked to boost TRPs.
Sony guys earned some brownie points for themselves by giving sidelights on a sweeper from Kolkata (who copied Kumar Sanu to the extent of matching his facial expressions while singing) and a white-wash/paint guy from Ludhiana: both the guys qualified to the next round. Particularly poignant was the selection of a visually challenged lady who sang very well and made it to the next level. After she qualified, she reminded ‘Sonu Bhaiyya’ that she had met him during one of the episodes of Sa re ga ma. Sonu could remember the episode and told her ‘aap ab utna hi sur mein gaati hain.’ Of course, the lady had not featured in sa re ga ma, which shows that the participant standards are far stringent for Sa re ga ma (and now Shaan’s Pa!).
The show has been edited in a mighty slick manner, at times one doubts about whether the principle ‘what you see is what you get’ really applies to Indian Idol. We are given to believe that participants get all but two minutes to showcase their talent before the trio, we get to see the participant enter the arena, perform, and then leave. How then, do we have Sonu Nigam aware of the fact that the participant does that jhhadu-katka job when he does not comment on his profession during the two minutes he gets to perform before the jury?
On the whole, I would say India Idol is entertaining and immensely watchable programme. However, one should not don one’s ‘Sa re ga ma pa’ hat (or for that matter the ‘Meri Aawaz suno’ one!) while watching this programme. The programme has high entertainment value and a good opportunity to look into the minds of the jury. After all, Anu Malik and Farah Khan may end up looking more reasonable and likable at the end of the show, thereby getting rid of their grumpy and detestable current images. As for Sonu Nigam, he can only boost is likable guy image.