Naad Bhed
The idea behind the show, format followed and awards
The central idea of Naad Bhed is to build a platform to earn respect for the rich Indian heritage of classical music. Those who participate or watch the show may or may not become converts to the cause but if a parent were to say with pride that their child participated in this reality show, just as he or she is doing now for other genres, then the show will have achieved its purpose. Hoping to bring about a positive change in peoples attitude towards classical arts, SPIC MACAY and Doordarshan put their strengths together to launch this show.
Naad Bhed follows the pattern of elimination rounds familiar with Indian audiences. The format is designed to attract participation from all states of the country. DD Kendras in 15 major cities organise auditions followed by shooting of the Regional Rounds which are telecast on regional channels. Later the selected candidates from each of these 15 regional roundsl proceed for furthering filtering. The grand finals is held in Mumbai. Both the semi-finals and finals are aired on the national network of Doordarshan and on its other channels including DD Bharati.
Judges and Reach
One of the strong points of this show is the USP of Doordarshan itself vis a vis its nationwide reach and its desire to promote Indian culture. To make it more attractive and bring in credibility, SPIC MACAY has taken on board some great maestros of Indian classical music as probable judges, like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Prof. T. N. Krishnan, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Begum Parween Sultana, Vidwan T.V. Shankarnaraynan, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Shri R.K. Srikantan.
Awards
There are six awards of Rs 3 lakhs each – Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Yuva Puraskar (Hindustani vocal), Pandit Ravi Shankar Yuva Puraskar (Hindustani instrumental), Ustad Alla Rakha Yuva Puraskar (Hindustani accompanist), M.S. Subbalakshmi Yuva Puraskar (Carnatic vocal), Sheikh Chinna Moulana Yuva Puraskar (Carnatic instrumental) and Palghat Mani Iyer Yuva Puraskar (Carnatic accompanist). Naad Bhed also awards Rs 10 lakhs each for the top participant in the Hindustani Classical and Carnatic categories, while all finalists each get Rs 10, 000/-.