Shaan on ZEE TV- ‘Ek Desh, Ek Raag’ Initiative: Talks about the Challenges Encountered, Hosting & Judging!

Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa crossing its 25-year milestone in 2020, is coming up with an industry first initiative, Ek Desh Ek Raag, to help humanity rise above the gloom of the pandemic through the power of music.

This Industry-first initiative by ZEE - ‘Ek Desh, Ek Raag’ will see the leading media & entertainment powerhouse leveraging its network strength with a 25-hour Fund Raiser Music Concert, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Live-athon, on digital with over 350 performances across 11 ZEE Social Pages that captures the vibrancy of sur, taal and spirit of every Indian sub-culture. Javed Ali will be performing during the Live-athon as well as the Ek Desh Ek Raag concert along with artistes like Udit Narayan, Richa Sharma, Himesh Reshammiya, Shaan, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Amaal Maallik, Armaan Malik, Sourav Ganguly, Vijay Prakash, Kamal Khan and Debojit. 

Shaan in a media interaction spoke about his journey in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, hosting, judging and much more. Shaan will be seen hosting the ZEE TV’s Ek Desh Ek Raag concert and apart from that he will be performing on a medley of his songs and interacting with the artistes. 

Talking about completing so many years in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, he says, “It’s definitely nostalgic. A lot of old memories have come fresh now. Lots of wonderful and positive memories.”

He added, “My son is going to turn 18 and I have been hosting the show before that. There have been many interesting memories and I’ve learnt a lot from it.”

Talking about the challenges encountered, he said, “The main challenge is to keep my patience. Because earlier, there were not so many technical problems. Here, you have to keep your patience and make sure that it has happened properly. It took a lot of patience but I did hosting after a really long time, so for me it was a lot of fun because I was reliving those times.”

Talking about what is more challenging for him, hosting or judging, he said, “Basically between judging and hosting, challenges are very different. When I was hosting I always used to think that grass is greener on the other side. When I got into judging, I realised the responsibility to make a choice between singers. No matter how accurately you do it, to send a contest home is a terrible guilt that you go through. That is something that I never had to deal with as a host. But as a judge, I have had many sleepless nights. Coming home and feeling that maybe I was wrong, maybe she sang better, so judging has its own sets of challenges.”

‘Ek Desh Ek Raag’ will start with the Live-athon on 23rd May with a 25-hour Music Marathon on digital. The 25 Year milestone will culminate into a grand Ek Desh Ek Raag concert on 24th May, 7 PM onwards in 10 national languages across 19 ZEE channels with the most iconic faces of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa singing from the confines of their homes.