Aditya Narayan is back as the host of SaReGaMaPa on Zee TV after a gap of four years. He talks to Sangeeta Yadav about what makes this show click and how it has changed his life
This is your fifth season as the host. What are you doing differently this timeIJ
It’s little bit of retaining the old style of hosting and bringing new innovations. Along with the fantastic music, we’ll bring contestants’ success story related to their struggles, family background etc so that the viewers could know them more than just a singer. There are always a lot of things that happen on the spur of the moment. We don’t create a set pattern. I’ll keep it more fun, real, spontaneous and create a light atmosphere by cracking jokes.
How are the contestantsIJ
They are phenomenal. I don’t know how our country manages to produce so many good singers so consistently. This time we had extensive auditions. We called around 100 contestants to Mumbai to select top 12. Apart from the judges, this time we are going to have 30 jury members who have selected the final 12. These singers are all good but it depends on how they perform on that day.
What has been your observation about the show over the yearsIJ
There have been popular singers who were launched by this show and they went on to make it big for themselves. The level of the show is very high. The pressure is immense on contestants with judges like Pritam, Sajid-Wajid and Mika. Many end up doing things they should not be. It’s pretty much inevitable, given the setup.
How have you grown as a host through this showIJ
I found little bits of myself while hosting the show over the years. It has been a crucial juncture in my life. I was an 18-year-old who returned from london with a diploma in English contemporary music and didn’t know what to do. Suddenly this show came up. From then, there was no looking back. I gained a lot of popularity and learnt a lot. I interacted with a lot of senior musicians and people who I look up to like lataji and Ashaji.
You saw stardom at a very early age...
A lot of my friends were contemplating about what they want to do in the future and here I was already establishing a name for myself. It gave me immense confidence. It was never my intention to work but to be a learner. Ever since I was a child, right from the time I was trained under Kalyanji bhai, I’ve been very blessed to be learning and working at the same time. By the time I was seven-years-old, I already performed in 250 concerts across the world. I started singing in films and got offers for acting. I ended up singing more than 100 songs as a child artist and acted as well. By the time I was 13, I had a huge body of work under my belt. But then my voice cracked and it went through modulation during my adolescent phase. I was out of action for over six years.
What do you have to say about veteran singersIJ
People like Shankar Jaikishan and Mohammad Rafi, Kishore da, Ashaji, lataji, Kalyanji, SD Burman, Khayyam sahab, Manna Dey, RD Burman, they created an ocean of great music. I don’t think our generation is very much aware of them. There is a misconception in today’s generation that these singers belonged to the old generation of music. They are as contemporary and relevant today as they were 30 years ago. Many of those songs are benchmarks themselves. I feel, somehow, we artists have compromised with the quality due to lack of time. I don’t see lataji or Ashaji or Kishore Kumar in the making. People should go back to that time and listen to these people.