Known widely as the 'Bhajan Samraat', Anup Jalota would be judging the third edition of Khazana Artist Aloud, India’s first and only talent hunt for Ghazal singers along with ,Talat Aziz, Rekha Bhardwaj and Sudeep Bane.

Khazana, a property of Hungama Artist Aloud,  aims to support and promote independent content, and Khazana - an annual concert that celebrates the art of ghazals.

To dig deep about the property and ghazal music, we got in touch with Anup Jalota, a veteran in this genre.

Excerpts below.

Being a judge for Khazana, what are the challenges you go through?

Last year we had a difficult time making decisions while choosing between  contestants. There are so many talented kids. It's  strainous for us to select, but at the end of the day it's our responsibility. While there are some singers who technically sing the song well but urdu is wrong. This show is based on Ghazal and your urdu needs to be strong. Presentation of ghazal needs to be intact. Your Urdu accent needs to be really well.

How has your overall your experience been associating with Hungama?
From the time Hungama has been associated with Khazana which was an already existing property it has been excellent. It has reached a wider audience.

You think Khazana associating with an OTT platform like Artist Aloud would help the show reach to a wider audience?

Watching virtual concerts digitally has definitely brought down the charm of the onground experience but on the other hand because everything has gone digital it has reached a wider audience too.

Overall thoughts on Ghazal music in india?

People have been singing ghazals the way they are supposed to be sung but only the audience listnership has decreased to a certain amount These days ghazal listnership amongst this millenial age has become less because they don't understand the language. They don't know urdu properly to which they don't enjoy this kind of music. I expect people to expand this language in order to increase the popularity of ghazal music.

Presently concerts are streaming virtually due to the covid pandemic. How much of a success is this going to be?

Many platforms are doing digital concerts but I don't think there is much financial gain in this but yes there is commercial gain. But yes as the digital world is expanding, it surely is grabbing a wider audience.

Amid this ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, how are you spending your quarantine period?

I practice yoga, meditation, threadmill, riyaz. I feel 24 hours in a day fall short for me. I also have my online music classes where I teach people worldwide.

Could you throw a light on your future projects?

I have shot a role as an actor for web series patallok. I am into acting too and working on my new music albums. There is much more on the pipe and there will be much in the pipeline.

Message to fans.

Make the full use of the lockdown. Focus on strengthening your mind, body and soul healthy and this will be attained by doing yoga abhyad, pranayam. Mediation se, eat amlas, chavan prash, wat fruits. Increase immunity. Take this as an advantage and make the best use of it.