Singer Rahul Vaidya, one of the contestants on the new season of the reality show "Bigg Boss", says it takes more than just talent to make a mark in the Hindi music industry.

The 33-year-old singer is best known to the audience as the second runner-up in the first season of the singing reality show, "Indian Idol". His discography includes an album titled "Tera Intezaar" and an unplugged version of the song, "Beintehaan" from the film "Race 2".

According to Vaidya, most of the singers active in films today have served as assistants to music directors or have been associated with music labels.

Like Arijit Singh would assist Pritam, Armaan Malik is brother of music director Amaal Mallik, and singer Jubin Nautiyal is attached with the label T-Series, he said.

"There are a lot of reasons for a singer to get a film song. It doesn't only require talent, there are a lot of other things. There is favouritism, preference, you can call it lobbying also, there are camps in Bollywood (music industry)," the singer told PTI in an interview before entering the Colors reality show.

Vaidya said he was offered "Bigg Boss" several times in the past but he couldn't say yes because the year-end, the months during which the show is shot, tends to be a busy time for performers due to events.

Owing to the coronavirus pandemic as all outdoor events remain cancelled, the singer said this was the right time to take the plunge.

Vaidya said he is both charged up and a little nervous about featuring on the show.

"The nervousness is about an experience which I have never experienced before. 'Bigg Boss' is not like any other reality show, you don't know how comfortable you will be with it.

"I want to show to the world my other facets of life. I hope to become a better-known person after 'Bigg Boss'."

Vaidya said he will express his emotions through songs inside the "Bigg Boss" house.

The singer believes the perception that only playback singers tend to become successful isn't true.

In today's time, he said, a lot of independent singers who don't lend their voice to film songs are more in demand.

Vaidya, who also has a YouTube channel, said he has never lobbied towards getting a song in Bollywood.

"I have always believed in being my own representative. Every year I have four singles, I have created my own music and YouTube channels, which has millions of views. Whatever small (niche) I have created is my own without any support of the music fraternity," he said.

Actor couple Rubina Dilaik and Abhinav Shukla, actors Eijaz Khan, Jasmin Bhasin, Nishant Singh Malkhani, Pavitra Punia, singer Jaan Kumar, son of veteran singer Kumar Sanu, model Shehzad Deol, singer-model Sara Gurpal and south actor Nikki Tamboli are also part of "Bigg Boss" season 14.

The show, hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, started airing from Saturday night.

New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) The national capital's air quality was recorded in the moderate category on Monday morning, and it is likely to remain so for another two days.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the city air quality index (AQI) will remain in the moderate category on Tuesday and Wednesday as high-velocity local winds are preventing accumulation of pollutants.

The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 169 at 10 am which falls in the moderate category. On Sunday, the 24-hour average AQI was 184.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) had earlier said that air quality is likely to deteriorate to the lower end of poor quality on Monday.

It said an increase in farm fires was observed around Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring border regions on Sunday but "only a marginal impact" is likely on Delhi in the coming days.

Pawan Gupta, a senior scientist at Universities Space Research Association, NASA, said farm fires were observed in more districts of Punjab. Fires in Uttar Pradesh have also started showing up, he said.

Also, there is a marked dip in minimum temperatures recorded in Delhi. On Monday, it settled at 19.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

The minimum temperature is likely to drop to 18 degrees Celsius by Wednesday.

Low temperatures and stagnant winds help in accumulation of pollutants near the ground, affecting air quality.