‘Punjabi Idol would be a different show’
Shveta Pathak

Raman Tandon: Desire to reach out to showcase talent from the region

WHEN Indian Idol set Sony TV’s TRPs soaring, coming up of a couple of more similar shows on television was quite expected. Yet another music-based talent show was the reaction when we heard of auditions for Punjabi Idol, to be aired on Doordarshan. Raman Tandon, managing partner of Indoscreen Films and TV Productions, the company that is producing the programme however, strongly disagrees with it. "This show would break the tradition of having artists from one field only," he asserts.

Excerpts from the interview:

How would Punjabi Idol differ from the Indian Idol?
It is a talent hunt show, but would be entirely different from Indian Idol. In fact, initially we thought of naming it ‘Pollywood to Bollywood’, as our aim is to give an opportunity to Punjabi artists. But that name would have given a message that the show was related to Bollywood, which is why we decided to change the name. This show would provide a platform to dancers, singers and also actors. We would encourage people of the Punjabi community settled anywhere in the world, to participate in this show.

How would you invite participation from other countries?
Towards this , we would have two special episodes, a Pakistan special and a UK special episode. We would select semi-finalists in those countries and they would come to India for the finals.

Yes, two winners and two semi-finalists would be commercially promoted. We would come out with audio cassettes and CDs. Actors would get a chance to act in films which my company is producing.

Yes, alongwith Anil Sharma of Gadar fame, I would be coming out with 10 Hindi films within a year. These films would be financed by the Union Financial Corporation of USA. If I get good artists, they would certainly be given a chance in these films. Besides, I recently launched a portal which would also be used towards the purpose.

The portal would contain a database of artists. Anyone can go to the site and get himself registered. Over 300 producers from Bollywood and also from other countries would have access to this database. This would open up a host of opportunities for artists.

As a Punjabi, I strongly feel the need to provide opportunities to artists in this state. There is an absence of a platform to showcase their talent and even training facilities are lacking. This, despite the fact, that the state has a rich pool of talent. Realising this need, I decided to contribute towards this motive.

We would groom the artists who are selected by us. As artists would get to work with experts from industry, they would get a chance to deliver their best.

Several people are promoting vulgarity as they think it to be a sure-shot way to attracting ore audience. They need to understand it is a short-lived formula, which has a negative impact on society. Our company, however, is determined not to promote any such vulgar videos or films. We intend to portray art in a beautiful manner. Our USP would be technologically superior films with interesting subjects.

We plan to come out with a Bihari Idol and also a UP Idol soon. For the UP Idol, we have already tied up with a Bhojpuri producer.

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