Ranjeet Rajwara may not ring a bell in the mind of an average ghazal lover. But he managed to strike a chord with the famous Ghulam Ali. Ranjeet met him some seven years ago when he was merely a 10-year-old boy. He left such an impression on Ghulam Ali that the famous singer still fondly remembers him, preferring to address him as Chhotu; it is said whenever he meets an Indian singer he asks about Chhotu. Today Ranjeet is one of the contestants in Zee TV's musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa . At 17 he is also the youngest. Remarkably in a show where nobody dares to sing ghazals, Ranjeet has been consistently doing that. So much so that many participants have alleged that he sings ghazals because he cannot sing Hindi film songs. Ranjeet argues with them. “I tell them, I can sing songs as well but can they sing ghazals? ”
Says Ranjeet, “I know ghazal singing is really tough, it is not anybody's cup of tea, but I chose to sing ghazals as I like to take up challenges and also I was brought up in such an atmosphere where my father and his friends sang ghazals.”
Ranjeet learnt his music early in life. At the age of five he was found singing a ghazal by his father at his aunt's birthday party. His father, himself a post graduate in music and an exponent of the Ghazal genre himself, soon put Ranjeet under the tutelage of Pandit Chiranji Lal Tanwar in Jaipur where the family lived. Now looking at Ranjeet's interest in music the family has shifted to Mumbai where Ranjeet is doing his senior secondary from Wilson College.
Although Ranjeet chose to be a ghazal singer, he is still not sure about his future in the music industry but looking at the interest of the audience and the mentors on the show he feels that one day ghazals will be liked by the audience and stage shows will be organised for ghazals. Even film producers will start to have a ghazals in their films like item numbers.
Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan is his idol and he also is a big fan of Mehdi Hassan and Hariharan. Ranjeet feels that Hariharan's style is unique and is liked by everyone. Ranjeet practices for nearly four-five hours daily and he also has a word of advice for other singers: “Do not practice too much on the day of your performance because then you won't be able to give your 100 per cent.”
