Folkstar: Maati Ke Laal TV Show - Doordarshan DD Kisan

Folkstar – Maati Ke Laal is a singing and music reality show that aired on DD Kisan channel. The show completed its initial season in 2015. Pankaj Shukla served as the writer and Creative Head for the show and was produced by Saibaba Telefilms. It regularly aired every weekend at 6 pm. The show was first of its kind that involved local and traditional forms of music. The show set out itself to find out the lost forms of music across India. These dominated the music scene but recently lost to the evolving pop and Bollywood music. The show aimed to provide a platform and introduce these forms of music to the masses.

The show had two judges – Anu Kapoor and Ila Arun. Anu Kapoor is a famous and critically acclaimed actor and alumni of the National School of Drama who shot to fame after hosting the popular music reality show – Antakshaari. Ila Arun is a famous Rajasthani folk and playback singer who has won multiple awards and sung for many movies. She is renowned for her own style of folk-pop fusion style of music. The show did not have restrictions on the type of music and allowed every form of folk music to take part. The judges on the show traveled to multiple cities like Jaisalmer, Barmer, Rohtak, Pune, and Jalandhar to host auditions for various folk singers.
The auditions were held in almost sixteen cities across India. At each audition, the judges selected singers who they taught had the potential to be the best folk singer. At the end of auditions, the judges selected 28 participants from the entire pool. These contestants were selected across states and style of music. The show pitted these contestants in four rounds of seven contestants each. In each round, the singers performed a traditional song which the judges awarded scores.
The two singers with the best scores advanced to the finale. Similarly, the show eliminated participants until the final eight remained. These were the finalists who competed in the finale to win the show. They again competed against each other to win the show. In the end, Alok Pandey was the winner of the first ever season. The show was praised for its efforts to highlight the lesser known forms of music and art in India. The singers who wouldn’t usually get an audience got a chance to show their talent on the national scale.