Ila: On a musical mission

She���s come a-visiting, once again.
And this time, it���s neither for shopping nor to admire the beauty of the monsoon in the Pink city. Ila Arun is in Jaipur on a mission ��� to canvas for the cause of folk music. Having cancelled all her appointments and recordings in Mumbai at the last minute, the folk singer flew down here to request the people of Rajasthan to vote for her folk group called Maati ke Laal of which she is the mentor, in a TV reality show.
Ila was surprised to learn on the sets of the show that her group is the danger zone and is under the threat of being voted out, all because it has not received as many votes as the Sufi and the Bollywood groups, which are consequently in a better position. ���I have a brilliant, talented and experienced set of singers, who come from various regions of India. They are talented and have a great knowledge of our folk music, which forms the foundation of any kind of music,��� says Ila, adding, ���I wasn���t informed that there is separate voting system for each genre in the show, so all along, I���d been requesting people to send in their votes for individual contestants. Despite the fact that my contestants have adequate votes, we are still in the danger zone. So I want to request the people of Rajasthan to vote for the folk genre, so that it remains in the show.���
Ila also clears the air about the tiffs that take place on these reality shows. ���These are not necessarily staged. Sometimes, there is a need to fight for a cause, like, there was an episode in which I had an argument with Anand Raj Anand. And it was only to make him understand that since folk is the base for all music, it must be given due recognition and respect, and that���s why it must remain in the show,��� says Ila.
It���s been after quite a while that the singer has been associated with a reality show. ���I took this one up mainly because it is divided into three genres ��� Sufi, Bollywood and folk. And as a mentor of the folk artistes, I once again, got a chance to connect with the lovers of folk music. I have always strived, through my work, to make people understand the importance and beauty of folk music. Since my songs are replete with folk elements like lehariya, chooriyaan, etc, I want the people from my state to help me fight this battle and give folk music a place of honour in the music scene.���
���The youth needs to be brought closer to it. I want to reiterate once again that it���s the genre that we are fighting for, and not the individuals,��� stresses Ila.