MUMBAI: Harsh reality awaits reality show contestants post the instant stardom they receive being part of the reality shows.

Controversy prevailed on Music Ka Maha Muqabala over the weekend as Raja Hasan, part of Himesh's Warriors, voiced his opinion on the flooding of Pakistani singers in Bollywood.

After receiving appreciation for his rendition, an emotional Hasan questioned, We are appreciated after we sing covers sung by cross border singers, so why don't music composers in Bollywood consider us before approaching those artists?.. 

Hasan further went on to say, There are many singers in our country who have received recognition after being part of reality shows but they get lost in oblivion after the show ends. There is ample talent in India but no platform to showcase it.... Hasan himself was the first runner up of Zee's music talent hunt Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. He was declared winner in music reality shows like Zee's Ek Se Badhkar Ek and Sony's Ustaadon Ka Ustaad.

Raja Hasan's question got a round of applause from the audiences who seem to be agreeing with his thoughts but it left the judges lip-tied. Singer Mika took up the responsibility of responding to Hasan saying, Music composers in the industry believe that winners or participants of music reality shows don an attitude and it becomes difficult to work with them.... But he did agree that genuine talent should be provided with a platform.

After much gasps from the judges and singers, Hasan signed off adding, It is an appeal to all the music composers to consider capable Indian singers before approaching Pakistani singers for recording Bollywood songs....

Earlier music reality shows like Channel [V] popstars in 2002 and Indian Idol in 2004 sowed seeds for reality bug in Indian television space. Over the years, production houses have tweaked concepts and introduced new formats in the music reality space. The year 2008-2009 saw bombardment of music reality shows across General Entertainment Channel (GEC) and Music channels. Reality shows like Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka, Dhoom Macha De, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs, Fame Gurukul, Choote Ustaad, Voice of India etc dominated the television space and provided instant stardom to innumerable singers.

However, only a few have been successful in getting a break through into playback singing and the rest failed to see the day light.

The reality show, Music Ka Maha Muqabala is a platform which has six prominent names from the music industry- Shaan, Himesh Reshammiya, Shreya Ghoshal, Mohit Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan and Mika teaming up with participants of earlier music reality shows.