After Anna Hazare, it is Baba Ramdev who is appearing as a celebrity guest on "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs". The channel had approached him earlier for the Independence Day episode but the plan couldn't materialize.
Baba, who enjoys a huge mass appeal, was surprised when he heard the final five contestants croon spiritual songs. The show was shot on Monday morning in Mumbai. "The shoot was supposed to begin at 11.30am. And Baba reached the studio before time, much to the surprise of the judges and crew members. It's rare to see someone so punctual especially when Bollywood stars have made shoot delays a style statement," informs a source.
It wasn't just the yoga asanas with which Baba entertained his guests. Interestingly, the yoga guru also sang a few spiritual songs. "And it was the number of re-takes he took for one song that had the audience in splits. He sang "Mein wo purush banoo bhagwan jiss se badhe bharat ki shaan" for the audience. Since he wasn't satisfied with the first two attempts, he said, 'Ek baar aur gaatein hain.' And when he sang the same song for the third time, he forgot the last line. Since it was a spiritual song and Baba could not let the mistake be, he didn't mind performing the same for the fourth time. The audience was amused to see Baba's enthusiasm." With the applause Baba received from the audience, Adnan Sami, a judge at the show, couldn't stop himself from appreciating Baba's performance. But Baba humbly maintained, "Meri awaaz trained nahin hai."
Baba, who has reportedly not charged any money to be on the show, also talked about his childhood. The source said that when a contestant asked Baba 'Aapka bachpan kaisa tha?' he went on to say, 'As a kid I would often roam around without clothes.' Baba also spoke at length about his school life. The source says, "Baba said that till 5th standard, he wasn't required to pay any fees. After that, the fee structure changed and he had to pay `2. Since money was a problem, he had to depend on second-hand books. Since he'd take good care of his books, he could sell them at a higher price."
According to the source, in a press conference after the shoot, mediapersons asked Baba for his reactions to Rakhi's statements of "Baba is hot", "I want to marry Baba". "Baba, who looked a bit offended by the question, tried to duck it. But when mediapersons insisted, he said, 'Agar Rakhi mera naam leke apne show ka promotion karwana chahti hai toh yeh kaafi ochi baat hai. Ek sant ko Rakhi apna target bana rahi hai'."
