IN TUNE FOR FAME
Azmat Hussain Khan, age 10, mimicking a performance.
Sa re Ga ma pa Lil Champs is an Indian (Hindi) Singing Talent show for children aged 8-15, It is aired in 158 countries across the world and known as one of the most successful talent shows of India with an exceptionally high TRP rating. Watched by millions of people across in India and around the world, its patron network ‘Zee’ takes immense pride in the fact that is the only show where the childrens’ lives are not exploited for the drama of their humble lives, personalities and TRPs but that they are only interested in mentoring and showcasing raw talent in India focusing on vocal singing skills.
Most children who come to participate in this show come from small humble and diverse backgrounds, be it cities, towns or villages from all over the country. With big dreams, enviable dedication and competitive spirit to win, they are aware that winning such a contest will change their lives forever and perhaps make them successful, rich and famous. At the least they will become minor hero and heroines in the locale that they come from.
I once used to participate in exactly such contests, with the exception that there was no international television or a big platform as the trophy. There were in fact mere brass trophies, which my mother was only too happy to display in the living room, alongside the fact that at the time our ambitions were limited, and opportunity outside of a small town like Jaipur, for a young girl like me was considered risky.
Interestingly 20 years later, as a photographer I see a radically evolved side to opportunities, such as the possibly fruitful platform like Zee Lil champs (with established celebrity music professionals) provides to young kids and teenagers with an amazing talent of singing.
Coming from humble backgrounds, these childrens’ lives begin to change the moment they are accepted to participate in such a show. Encouraged by parents and peers they live in the city of Mumbai in accommodation provided by the network, for months at a stretch while the show is being recorded. Accompanied with one guardian (parent/uncle/elder siblings), they are happy skipping their academic education to live in the entertainment capital of the India. The schools themselves take pride in such an opportunity and accommodate the kids’ studies for later. Most children you see in this project had never imagined that one day they’d get to even see the city Mumbai, the land of the successful and famous; and when here they get a taste of what is expected as a price of fame. They are placed in highly disciplined schedules, motivated and perhaps even chided to believe in themselves, to fiercely compete, practice, do yoga, participate in emotional healing lessons and take grooming as well as diction lessons. They are styled and groomed as they have only seen famous people are, to look good on television. They learn to look at themselves in the mirror as someone important.
Indirect parental pressure to win, the mentoring by celebrity musicians and judges, the exposure on television, meeting the likes of their own begins to change these children into semi adults with expected fame and challenges every facet as they have known themselves to be. There are insecurities and securities that rise and fall in extremes at every show recording as one can always be eliminated. There are also a parent’s unfulfilled dream of being ‘someone’ that filters through their child’s quest to win. At other times, it is the child who wants it more than anyone else. Unknown emotions surface with serious competition, constant practice, the hunger to learn, self belief, vanity, subtle politics, deep and surface friendships, but the must compete to the best they know, in the hope that they will fulfill their dreams and ambitions which will make them feel better, their families proud and have them rise in stature within their communities.
Courtesy: Zee Network Private Limited
Exhibition on display at UC Davis, UCLA, California since November 2011- March 2012