Reality show to select best music genre from folk,Sufi,Bollywood

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) The Music Reality show bandwagon rolls on! After Reality shows to scout for the best singers and performers, the music reality show wagonwheel is now veering around to a contest to select the most popular genre of music among the diverse range prevalent in India.

Which is the most popular genre of music in India - Sufi, Folk or Filmy ?, will be the point of contention in a new reality show, to be aired on NDTV Imagine shortly. In what could be seen as a fresh concept in music reality television in the country, 'Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka', a new show to be aired on NDTV Imagine from June, this year will have three groups of singers - proponents of the Sufi, Folk and Filmy style of singing - battle it out among themselves in a musical contest, to decide the most popular genre of music.

Leading the three groups of hugely talented singers, each of them having a strong grasp in their respective genres, will be three musical maestros- while the team of Sufi singers titled 'Sufi Ke Sultan', will be led by noted Pakistani Sufi music exponent Ustad Rahet Fateh Ali Khan, the team of Folk singers 'Maati Ke Lal' will be headed by one of India's best exponents of folk singing, Ila Arun and that of singers of Filmi music 'Bollywood Ke Baadshah' will be mentored by veteran music director Anand Raj Anand.

The uniqueness of 'Junoon', being produced by Gajendra Singh of Saibaba Telefilms, the pioneer in the field of music reality shows on Indian television, is in the individual talent of the contestants, each of them having a strong grasp of their respective genres, and also that the audience will be voting for a genre of music and not for individual singers, as has been the case in earlier reality shows.

Addressing a Press meet in the Capital to promote the show, coming close on the heels of the highly popular music show 'Dhoom Macha De', Gajendra Singh said,''in 'Junoon', we are trying to bring tothe television viewer a unique new show that seeks to tap into India's passion for good music in diverse varieties and genres, through an exciting contest, to decide the country most popular genre of music among the Sufi, Folk and Filmi music.'' Noting that India is a diverse country with music for every emotion and occasion, Gajendra Singh said,''Junoon will bring out the very strong and popular styles of music, especially Sufi and folk, in an interesting and unique way.'' Speaking at the press meet, Pakistani Sufi singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan said,''the endeavour of me and my team will be to prove to the audience that it is the Sufi genre of music that is closest to the heart of the people as it brings contenment to the Human soul.'' Veteran folk singer Ila Arun said folk music and its flavour rested in her very soul and flowed in her veins. Stating that she was what she was today, was only because of the folk music. She said as the mentor of the 'Maati Ke Lal', she would do her utmost to bring home that it was the folk music that was the most intoxicating to the Human mind.

''To my mind, folk music is the genre that is most intoxicating to the mind of the people, because it is the only kind of music with the frangrace and earthen appeal of the native soil. Infact, folk music, be it of Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra or Pakistan, is what forms the very genesis of all other kinds of music,''she said.

The mentor of 'Bollywood Ke Baadshah' Anand Raj Anand said it was filmy music which was the closest to the common man as it was the music of films that lent the folk tunes and lyrics a widespread appeal through the wide canvas of the Cinematic medium.

'Junoon' will be aired every week with a performance and elimination episode. Each week, the participants of all the teams, each of which will comprise six contestants, will perform a song from their respective genres.

The elimination process will be based on the performances. Each week, viewers will send in their votes not for the individual performers, but for their most favourite genre. Once the votes are totalled every week, the weakest genre will be identified. The mentor from that particular genre will then need to make the difficult decision to eliminate one of the contestants from his or her team.

There will be three voting lines, one each for the genres. The decisions on the genres will be based on 100 per cent audience votes.

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