Neeti Mohan: Placed importance on mental health aspect

Judging reality shows is no cakewalk It only gets trickier when the contestants are below the age of 14 But Neeti Mohan enjoys both mdash the role and the responsibility that comes with it For someone who started her journey as a contestant and then went on to become a prominent Bollywood singer Mohan knows that reality shows can be a gamechanger for true talent As she sits on the judgesrsquo panel of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lirsquol Champs season 9 the singer hopes to make it more about nurturing young talent and less about competitionEdited excerpts from the interviewWhat is your vision for this season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lirsquol ChampsI want to see growth in the children who come here I want them to have strong learning so that they go back enriched empowered and more confident about performing They should remember the show as a milestone in their life because it gave them an opportunity to learnYoursquove gone from being a contestant to a judge What is the one thing you wish to change about the showThese shows give opportunities and are a gamechanger for the talent On screen they only depict the weekbyweek performances not the training they receive behind the scenes There are coaches who train these children day and night Their backstory is not shown on TVDoes the show also take care of contestantsrsquo mental health considering they are being exposed to such high pressure at a young ageNow that I am a new mother I have placed huge importance on this aspect of the show Someone who is exceptionally good will always perform well but there are children who require more training before they shine We have experts who give them pep talks and help them deal with the jitters of the competition We have teachers who train them A lot of effort goes into preparing these kids especially because they are impressionable between the ages of five to 14 We want them to go back with a positive experience This year regardless of whether they clear the round or not we are giving everyone homeworkAlso ReadSinger Neeti Mohan celebrates one year of motherhood as her son Aryaveer turns oneBy cultivating singers yoursquore putting out the message that there is scope in playback singing How much of that is trueMusic is one place where sur plays a bigger role nepotism goes far away If Arijit Singh can sing then it does not matter where he comes from or who his family is He is from a reality show Everyone has come in this field because their voices work They are technically so strong that you cannot deny them the opportunity Being a famous singerrsquos son or a reality show contestant only takes you from point A to B But there is a long journey ahead which is only possible with a lot of hard work patience and loveAs a new parent do you hope your son enters the music worldMy parents never expected me to pick up anything They left that choice to my sisters and me because they wanted us to be happy with what we do They promised to be by my side no matter what I take up That is liberating I will apply the same learning to my son of 16 months I will expose him to different extracurricular activities and eventually let him decide Yet on a personal note I will say he loves music Given his attention span right now he is exploring every instrument that we have at home mdash piano guitar ukulele and tabla He also listens to music while sleeping