Ismail Darbar wages war against Zee TV'

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Many singing stars are being born, courtesy the several music shows on the television. Whether or not they go on to attain greater glory is another matter, but the fact remains that the winning post remains elusive for girls.

At least that's the trend that's been witnessed all along, and even this year, all the female contenders are slowly being eased out, never mind the talent. Of course, the Indian story is vastly different from the American Idol which, ever since its inception in 2002, has thrown up several female stars including Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks this year.

When the girls were slowly going out from the show, Javed Akhtar, a judge in one of the music shows angrily spoke about the gender bias that was more than evident in them. But, as he says, "This mindset exists in society. There's no escaping it however much you may try."

Giving examples of the way many talented young ladies made their exit from the show, Mouli Dave, a contestant in one of the programmes who was called India's Shakira, says that the herd mentality is the trend here.

"Voters think that guys have to be voted for because they are the ones who always win," says Mouli who, though of Gujrati origin, is actually from the US. "Also, here, people still frown upon girls who want a career in showbiz. Voters who belong to normal, middle-class families would rather the female contestants come and take part in these shows and then go back home. This is so unlike the mindset in the US where gender is not taken into consideration and only talent is at stake," she says.

Bappi Lahiri, a judge at one of the shows, was visibly upset when talented female contestants were ousted. "It's sheer bad luck. But then that's what the voting system does. The entire decision-making process should not be left to the janta," he says. Agrees composer Jatin Pandit who feels at least 50 per cent of the result should depend on the judges' opinion. "Then, such gender biases would not happen. As people who understand music, we would let only those with talent move ahead," he says.

Talking about the section of the audience that forms the vote-base, music director Ismail Durbar says that it's mainly the girls who vote. "And invariably they vote for boys. Even the boys who vote, do so for the male contenders because they prefer girls to sit at home," he says adding, "And in the process, boys who are good performers and touch a chord with the viewers, get selected. What they forget is that these shows are about music.

Look at Lata Mangeshkar, she was never a performer, nor was Mohammed Rafi, but their names will always be written in the annals of music history." He gives the example of contestant Poonam Yadav who he thinks should have been a winner. "It was so disappointing for all of us, but then since the results are based on votes, we are all helpless."

He laughs talking about how female viewers sometimes, go overboard in their obsession with the male contestants. "A girl from Kolkata once landed up in Mumbai to meet Musarrat, a contestant from Pakistan. So you can imagine the amount of SMSes these guys would be receiving. Not that they are not good, but sometime's girls can be better."

However, Poonam Yadav prefers looking at the brighter side of things. "So what if I didn't become a winner. I was among the top four. Gender bias may or may not exist, but I am happy with the kind of work I am already getting. And that's good enough for me," she says.

There has been an recent controversy over Aneek Dhar winning the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. Here are the excerpts between music director Ismail Durbar and Ashish Kaul, head of Corporate Brand Development at Zee. Durbar, who was a judge on the programme, is to be believed rigged voting, unfair judges and undeserving contestants who come up trumps is what reality shows are all about.

Ismail Asks: This year there was no live voting system unlike last year when Debojit won. This year the results were just brought in a sealed envelope to be announced by the celebrity guest Akshay Kumar.
Ashish Kaul Answers: There was no live screen voting system last year. We have an organisation with a modality platform which is largest in the subcontinent. The data is collected when we get the SMSes and then we hand over the results.

Ismail Asks: The judges have no clue about the voting system at all.
Ashish Kaul Answers: Then all the other judges should also say the same thing, but none of them are saying that. Let the other judges also say what Ismail is saying and then I will reply.

Ismail Asks: Going by pure musical standards, Amaanat should have won the contest.
Ashish Kaul Answers: Then he should not have been judge in the first place. He is talking about morality and ethics now. Where was he when in the last season Debojit won the contest and not Vineet, when everyone knew that Vineet was better?

Ismail Asks: Going by the number of votes, Raja, undoubtedly, should have been the winner when Aneek was the least expected to win.
Ashish Kaul Answers: I think it is sheer frustration. He himself is part of the system and if he had a problem then, why raise a voice now? The rules were laid down from day one, there is no point in questioning it now.

Ismail Asks: Last year the voting lines were live and Zee TV didn't want Debojit to win the contest and that's why they didn't pay attention to his career.
Ashish Kaul Answers: We did what we had to. According to Ismail, we wanted Vineet to win and not Debojit, but we went by the viewers' votes. Debojit won and we respected that decision. One has to understand that there will always be sympathy votes and it also happened in the case of Divakar in Little Champs. No one can say that Sanchita was not up there. So we can't argue over this at all. According to the format of the show we must give the best possible playback singer, and we stuck to our format. Debojit got what he deserved.

Ismail Asks: Zee TV refused to send singers Aneek and Mouli to my show yesterday in Surat, thus trying to blackmail me to stop talking to the media.
Ashish Kaul Answers: If we wanted to pull out, we could have done that on Monday too, when he had a show, but the fact is that Mouli and Aneek are unwell and so they were unable to perform at the show.

Ismail Asks: Zee TV should make a fiction film rather than a reality show…
Ashish Kaul Answers: All I can say is that we have moved on after Friday when the contest got over, and even he should. It would be great if he concentrates on his career rather than making irresponsible comments.