It looks like Shaan has finally got over his innate shyness. In the music video of his new album, Trishnagi, we can actually see Shaan with wife Radhika and two sons Soham and Shubh. “There was a situation in the song where they fitted in, they needed a mother and children. So I said, why not? In fact, I’m supposed to take Radhika to Singapore where I’ve a concert, for Valentine’s Day. But she’s making excuses saying one of the boys isn’t well. I’ll just have to force her to leave the kids with my mom. We need to be alone sometimes.”
Shaan says he was pressed for time while doing his new non-film album. “Luckily I had Ranjit Barot with me. He did the programming and two of my songs. And the studio where we recorded Trishnagi was close to where Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is shot. So I could hop over. But, yes, I wish I had more time to give my new album. I’m happy one of the songs, Shuruaat, has been used to showcase the Walt Disney film, The Chronicles Of Narnia?. I wish the album was marketed better by EMI.”
This is the new confident stage-friendly Shaan. “The confidence comes from hosting Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. My poor Hindi pronunciation has improved dramatically. It’s unbelievable how much popularity that show has given me. I’m already planning the next season with the producer-director Gajendra Singh. We’ve big plans. People who are saying I’m leaving the show must be out of their minds. I’d be stupid to even think about quitting it.”
He does have some reservations about the audiences’ poll on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. “I’d want the performance of the contestants to be judged by more authoritative music persons than the audience. You know when Daler Mehndi came to judge, he used sur as a yardstick. When the change in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa format started and audiences were made more participative, I knew we needed to compete with Sony’s Indian Idol. But I thought we were going the wrong way. But Gajendraji was right. The TRPs touched sky-high. Today the show is bigger than ever.”
Coming back to Debojit and Vinit, he’s even asked at the airport, who he thinks will win. Whom is Shaan voting for, anyway? “Going by the responses I see all around me, I’d say Vinit is hugely popular among kids and ladies. Men like Debojit’s singing. But if I’ve to choose between the two, Vinit has an edge. He’s a bit younger and has the flamboyance. But he needs another four or five years to evolve as a singer because his voice is going to change. He has been singing since the age of 11. Look at Michael Jackson. His voice stayed thin. It was never given a chance to change. I was undergoing puberty till 16 because I was constantly singing.”
