An ardent couch potato will vouch for this. Integrity and credibility are the virtues that would sum up the character of the judges and mahagurus of talent shows. The upsurge of reality shows has brought with itself a new generation of 'mentors' who have taken up the mantle of honing raw talent.
Suddenly some out-of-work celebs singers, presenters, music directors alike have become the faces of these shows and are deciding the 'future' of the desi music industry. The 'mentors' are so impressed with the format and contestants of their respective shows, that they leave no stone unturned to tag their show as the only reality show on the tube that promises to bring out nothing but the best talent. If so is the case then why in one season do they judge one show while in the next, they feature in another?
In the heat of change
The reason what most switchers cite is creative satisfaction while insiders call the metamorphosis a moolah rule. While it takes the viewer some time to adapt to these changes, even the industrywallahs aren't too comfy with it.
Identity crisis
For instance, Zee TV's popular music reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has a couple of new faces (Shankar Mahadevan, Aadesh Srivastava and Pritam) in its current season. Any change in the portfolio of judges will surely affect both the popularity of the show and the mahaguru. Experts believe that a major loss could be that the audience will start feeling lost and confused because they are completely unaware of the 'behind the scene' reasons for the switch.
As Star Plus' Amul Star Voice of India's producer-director Gajendrra Singh puts it, "There is bound to be confusion when they see the judges have been changed because these individuals have become synonymous with the show. However, with time the viewers adjust to it."
Hence, finding a stoic Ismail Darbar in Zee's rival show VOI shouldn't be shocking as it is Aadesh doing the same for Sa Reâ¦. All of this is, after all, a part of showbiz. You win some, you lose some judges, that is.
>> Movers and switchers <<
Abhijit Bhattacharya
This vocalist can aptly called be a pendulum for he swings both ways. The Ole Ole singer who began evaluating Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs, soon moved on to judge the first season of VOI. Done with the Star show, the Bengali babu is now on the tube examining participants on Zee's reality show Ek Se Badhkar Ek.
Aadesh Shrivastava
He donned the garb of mentor in the first season of Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma in 2005 with Jatin-Lalit, Himesh Reshammiya and Ismail Darbar. The show was an instant hit. But maybe Aadesh wasn't happy (or content with the fee) so he shifted his loyalties to the Gajendrra Singh camp. And now the guy is back into the familiar territory of the Zee show.
Ismail Darbar
The Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam composer may have been new to this season of Voice of India but the former Sanjay Leela Bhansali loyal has mastered the nitty gritty of reality shows over several seasons of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. While he confirms that his shift is purely based on the redundancy that creeped in judging the same show over and over again, we are still wondering...
Jatin -Lalit
The Jatin-Lalit
music composer duo were appointed as the judges in Zee's musical show Sa Re Ga Ma in 2005 along with host of other composers. However, with the show's director Gajendrra Singh starting off his own production house, the real life brothers decided to move on. They were seen in the last season of VOI.
