How can you expect a 17-year-old to sing for a 40+ Shah Rukh: Aditya Narayan

He's all of 19, but Aditya Narayan is fast emerging as the nation's young heartthrob. It's just not his good looks but Aditya has carved a name for himself as host of Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. The 19-year-old is equally adept at handling the media. Our reporter Mayur Lookhar posed some tricky queries but the youngster answers all of them with aplomb. What was your first reaction when Zee approached you for anchoring Sa Re..? I have never done anchoring before nor did I ever learn it. However, I thought this would be the ideal platform for a youngster to begin his career. I'd get to sing, perform and interact with the film fraternity. Apart from its winner, the real star of star of Sa Re. Challenge 2007 has been you. Thank you. I never thought people would shower such praises. I was willing to work hard and which I invariably did. So, I did expect some appreciation but never to this extent. You seemed to be on target right from the onset. You must have done your homework well. That's the first thing I did once I took up the challenge. I familiarised myself with Sa Re Ga Ma. I never used a teleprompter but used to by-heart my script which consisted of 15-20 pages. We have a wonderful creative team and that only proved beneficial for me. When we shot the first episode, I never felt that that I'm doing my first show but it was like resuming a shoot. With Shaan out of the show, critics were skeptical as to how a rookie like you would perform. However, now people even say you have completely outshone your predecessor? Thanks for your compliment but I think it's unfair to compare us. After all, I learnt about anchoring after watching stalwarts like Sonu Nigam and Shaan. However, my aim was to do it in a style of my own. For instance, I didn't want to make use of the word break, thus I came up with yuddhviram. Then I came up with nicknames for contestants. For instance, Royal cub of Bengal, Lucknow ki pocket size powerhouse. All I can say is that I've managed to make myself a brand name with Sa Re Ga Ma. Ismail Darbar expressed his displeasure over the final result. Do you reckon that Aneek Dhar was the rightful winner? Aneek was the rightful winner. Not because that he's a better singer than Raja or Amanat. The three finalists are all equally good but it was Aneek who chipped in with consistent performances. All contestants had their bad days, Aneek too had the odd one but never did I feel that his performance dropped below 85%. It's this consistency that helped him win the title. Did the three best contestants make it to the finals? It's not right to question the credibility of these singers. Not many disputed Raja or Aneek's place but some felt that a Sumedha would have given a tougher competition to the two. I don't buy this theory that Amanat Ali didn't merit a place in the top 3. When an acclaimed music director Ismaliji says that Amanant has more knowledge of music than him, then who are we to question Amanat's place. He's a singer of different kind. Reality shows unearth new singers but hardly anyone makes it to the top bracket of Bollywood's playback singers. Will Aneek, Amanat or Raja break the ice? People write off these singers once the show is over. However, they fail to gauge an important fact. If you look at the top Bollywood actors, most of them are in their 30s and 40s. Thus how can you expect an 18-20 year old to sing for a 40+ Shah Rukh Khan. We have to be patient with these young singers. Just give them some time and I'm sure the likes of Aneek, Amanat and Raja will emerge as top playback singers. After Sa Re Ga Ma, you're now hosting L'il Champs. How's the talent among the children? I am amazed to see the talent that we have now. It's almost unimaginable to see little 7-8 year old children sing to difficult numbers. I never possessed such talent when I was their age. You've sung the praises of others, where will Aditya Narayan stand 10 years from now? I'll just continue with my work. Haven't you set a goal for yourself? I do have my goals but at the moment, I'm content with what I'm doing now. I do foresee a career in singing. However, I don't want to rush into things. Presently, I'm just taking it one step at a time.