Singing without a singer judging

The Jjhoom India jury of Mahesh Bhatt, Shabana Azmi and Anandji has been described by some as 'trimurti'. While it's foolhardy to question the credibility of these acclaimed personalities, there's a missing link in the Jjhoom jury. A singing reality show not having a singer among the jury is indeed matter of debate. Sanjiv Sharma, CEO and chairman, Optimystix, says, "There's no given rule that a singer will best judge a fellow singer. It really is the music director who can gauge a singer's capability. We have a legendary music director in Anandji and you wouldn't find many better than him." But didn't Opimystix have Sonu Nigam for Indian Idol? Sharma retorts, " Jjhoom is a different format vis-?-vis Indian Idol. There, the contestants were absolute novices, thus it was important to have someone like Sonu Nigam, who would serve as mentor to them. In Jjhoom, we have established singers and it will be only fair for them to judged by music directors." So, will Shabana merely look after the actors? "Shabana will not merely look at the singing but she'll rate the overall performance of a pair. As in, how they will sing and dance," says Sharma. While there's merit to Sharma's remarks, didn't Sahara approach legendary singer Asha Bhonsale to be a judge on the show? Sahara programming Head Kalyan Sundaram replies, "It would have been great had we got Ashaji but we just couldn't go beyond two names (Lataji and Ashaji). They are legends and it's impossible to find a substitute for them. Also, having a singer as a judge could have played to the egos of our singer contestants." Singer and Jjhoom participant Akriti Kakkar had this to say, "It's not fair for me to comment on this. Nothing is in our control. However, I must admit that I chose to do this show once I heard that Ashaji was going to be a part of it. She's my idol and it truly would have been a great experience singing in front of her." Akriti's actor partner Varun Badola enunciates, "I never bother as to who is in the jury panel. One may get the best of judges but in a reality show their hands are always tied because it's always the junta that decides your fate." Would Varun have been uncomfortable singing in front of Ashaji "Not at all. It doesn't matter who's adjudicating my performance, I can only sing to the best of my limited capabilities." Right said Varun. Whether you're singing before Asha Bhonsale or Lata Mangeshkar, it's always the junta that delivers the final verdict.