Pakistani singer Atif Aslam, who was to start shooting his debut Indian TV show, Sur Kshetra this week, might have to wait till the third week of the month to get cracking. Due to certain technical problems, the show’s on-air date is also likely to be pushed by a week to the first week of February. However, it doesn’t seem to have affected the pop artiste. He admits that he plans to use the time to groom his team, emphasising on the basic ragas.

"I’m a pop artiste, who also sings in other genres. In the last couple of years, I’ve dabbled with Bollywood songs as well. My experience has taught me that training is not a compulsion.

You don’t need to go from teacher to teacher to learn different music genres. Once you master your basics, you can easily pull of any song,” says Atif, currently in Pakistan.

He adds that he didn’t undergo formal training in music, and that’s exactly how he plans to groom the talent he has scouted from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore for the Sahara One show, although he isn’t too happy with his team and wants another round of auditions if time permits.

According to the show’s format, his team of six singers will be competing with singer-composer-actor-producer Himesh Reshammiya’s super six from India.

Considering that Himesh has been on five other reality shows before this one, isn’t he apprehensive about team India’s performance on the show?

"I’m not,” says Atif confidently, "I’ve always been myself wherever I’ve performed and worked. I’m going to let my team do the same. I want them to focus and capture every Harkat (embellishment) in every song they plan to perform.

As a mentor, I will not sit with them day and night to preach. I will just pin point where they go wrong, and that should be enough. I respect Himesh and I’m sure he’ll groom his team excellently. But he doesn’t know what’s coming his way from Pakistan.”

[Via Hindustimes]