Reality shows do not nurture talent: Jagjit Singh
'Ghazal King' of India Jagjit Singh says that the singing based reality shows on TV these days are wasting talent rather than nurturing them.
The 70-year-old singer, who has judged a few shows himself, says that other than providing temporary fame, these shows give no scope to the fresh talents to grow further.
"Musical reality shows don't really nurture talent. They just provide fifteen minutes of fame and then it is downhill from there for the winners. It is just another commercial product for the channels," Singh told PTI.
"If they really want to promote talent then they should further train the participants even when the shows are over. That way the raw talent can materialise into something useful," he added.
Singh carved a niche for himself during the '70s, when the art of Ghazal singing was dominated by well-established names like Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan.
For four decades now he has been conjuring up magic with his voice and he says that music requires dedication and practice.
"Music is a vast subject. There is mathematics and grammar in music. Unless one knows all of it, he cannot become good singer. One should learn music for 15 years before actually trying their hands at singing Ghazals," said Singh.The legendary singer, who was in the capital for a performance last night with his equally popular Pakistani counterpart Ghulam Ali, said that their friendship dates back to 1980 when they first met at a concert.
"He (Ali) comes to my house in Mumbai, whenever he is in India. We do discuss music, but we mainly talk about our families. We first met in London in a concert back in 1980 and since then our association has lasted," the singer said.
Singh, who has composed timeless Ghazals such as 'Koi fariyaad', 'Jhuki jhuki si nazar', 'Tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya', said that he managed to succeed as a Ghazal singer because he was different from others of his time.
"I sing because its my daily bread earner. I sing Ghazals because it is part of our literature and I am successful because I managed to create a brand name for myself.
"I was inspired by singers like K L Sehgal, Talat Mahmood. Music is for inspiration not for competition. The moment one brings competition into music, the soul is lost. But one should always try and make a niche for oneself," he said.
When asked about the future of Ghazal singing and new breed of singers, Singh said that very few are interested in this genre nowadays since it is not a part of popular culture.
"There are very few Ghazal singers now a days because there is no exposure. The new generation wants to learn but since it is not part of the popular culture, they are not trained in this genre of music. So how can we expect to see and hear new breed of ghazal singers?" Singh said.
