Shaan on children's reality shows: 'Tremendous pressure on kids during Li'l Champs'

Mumbai: Popular singer Shaan has served as a host and judge on children’s reality TV shows and feels that counselling participants and their parents was very important to retain their innocence.  Earlier this week, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar urged authorities via a tweet to “urgently ban all reality shows involving children” as he feels they are “destroying them emotionally and their purity”. Asked about it, Shaan, who hosted Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs in 2006 and then returned to the singing based show in 2014 as a judge, told IANS, “I am on the same page with Shoojit Sircar. I didn’t involve myself in children’s reality shows for a few years because during L’il Champs in 2006, I noticed the amount of pressure on the kids. It was tremendous.” “Maybe someone said this just to convince me… and I got convinced… that ‘If you are not going to be there, nothing is going to change. People are still going to put up these shows. But if you are sensitive to the kids and you have a way to approach these things, you can stay real with the kids,” he said. Counselling is one of the most important of things, he added. “Counselling is a must on a children’s show. There should be a counsellor for kids and parents. And the shows should not be extended just because they are doing well. Children shouldn’t be kept away from their regular life for a long period,” said the ‘Bum Bum Bole’ singer. He says the longer they stay on the show, the more pressure they feel to maintain the same image. “Some of them even continue to play that same image which got formed during the show. At that age, it is not easy to switch on and switch off. They start talking and behaving in the same way, and that doesn’t allow them to grow.” “I won’t mention the name, but there was a reality show winner. She kept that image… That big round pink blush on cheeks. You know how children get make-up done. I asked ‘You are 19, so why would you still do that?’ She said, ‘People like it’,” he recalled. He is clearly not okay with it. Back home, Shaan’s sons, Soham and Shubh, are also budding musicians. Don’t they feel the pressure? “I don’t think they do. I haven’t really pushed them into it. They are evolving and growing at their own pace. I don’t want to pressurise them. They are learning piano and more. In terms of advice, I am always there for them. They are passionate about music. You can’t keep them away from that.” “Me, my father and grandfather have all done music,” said the singer, whose project - a mash-up of ‘Gazab Ka Hai Din’ and ‘Bawara Mann’ for T-Series’ Mixtape - released on Thursday. Talking about it, he said, “One is a recreation of the hit 1980s song and the other is as fresh as 2017. They are sung by different singers, but I approached the project as a new song that I’ve been called to sing. Both have blended so well.”