Jenna:) How has the Saregamapa 2007 experience been for you...Be honest..

Raja:) It was really very nice for me & for every contestant in the Show .. I enjoyed a lot & thanx to Zee for giving me such a stage ....

Jenna:) After the controversy surrounding the results, do you have any regrets of entering the contest?

Raja:) Well ..i didnt have any regrets about that ..b'coz wen we were in top 3 [Me . Amanat & Aneek] we all knew that we 3 are the winners **but thoda gum to hota hai agar aap apni manzil ke kareeb aakar us tak pahunch nahi paate ho ...But i m happy to be the 1st runner up.

**I will translate into English the part that has been highlighted in green above for Raja's international fans who may not speak Hindi - he is saying; (but, obviously there is a little bit of pain when you come sooo close to your personal goal and are not able to achieve it.)

(Jenna's Comment/s:) Bless him, I really appreciate his straightforwardness and honesty with this answer!

Jenna:) Were you surprised at people's reactions on the Saregamapa 2007 international tour because it appears that you had some of the strongest fan following, even more than Aneek!?

Raja:) Yes...i was surprised...it was really very exciting to have many of my fans there...Thanx for such love given to me ....Heartly thanks to all my fans ...I Love u all...

(Jenna's Comment/s:) This humble attitude and continual appreciation towards his fans, will take Raja very far, I sincerely hopes that he remains just as sweet as he is today and surrounds himself with people who are honest and loyal, which is unfortunately very difficult to do, within the cut throat showbiz industry.

Jenna:) I have heard that you are going to be working with my favourite composer A.R Rahman in the New Year, is there any truth to this and are there any other projects that you are involved in at the moment?

Raja:) Well...i m not going to work with A.R Rahman & i have recorded a album for Vishal ji & Shekhar ji ...& i will work with Adnan Sami in coming days.

(Jenna's Comment/s:) At some point in Raja's career, I would love to see him and Rahman working together, can you imagine that? - That would be a legendary killer combination!  (Both men with killer voices, killer curls and killer talent!!!  Haha!!!)  But, it shall be very interesting to see what he does with the other artists specified above as well - I will keep you posted!!! 

Jenna:) What was your best and worst experience on Saregamapa 2007?

Raja:) The Song "Mahiya" From Dus on special episode with Salman ji was the best & Pardesi, Pardesi was the worst experience.

(Jenna's Comment/s:) Mmmm...I am reading between the lines here because Raja was very brief with his answer.  I know that we (Raja's audience,) enjoyed this episode because Raja's performance was phenomenal and also because Himesh got a taste of his own medicine from Salman Khan-Ji and the 'Pardesi, Pardesi' episode was only made really bad for Raja, because of Himesh I believe!

Jenna:) How have you coped with the instant fame that you have received, is it more difficult than you imagined or have you been okay?

Jenna:) Do you keep in touch with any of your fellow SRGMP contestants outside of Saregamapa or have you all lost touch now?

Raja:) Yes ...i m in touch with every of my friends of Saregamapa Amanat & Poonam were not with us in the world tour but, then also i was in contact to them!

 

Jenna:) A lot of people were disgusted at the way that Himesh treated you in SRGMP, it seemed like he was always after you personally, did you feel that he treated you differently because you were the biggest threat to his gharana, or do you think that he treated everyone else the same?

Raja:) Well.....its a hard question ...but Himesh ji is a legend ....See, every mentor of each gharana wanted to make their gharana's win Himesh ji did it for Aneek ...,Vishal ji & Shekhar ji did it for me..& the same thing was with Amanat & Ismail ji

(Jenna's Comment/s:) (I think that Raja is being waaaayyyy too nice here, but, I guess that is why we all love him so much!)

I also think that rating Himesh as a legend at this point in his career, is beyond my scope of understanding right now.  Maybe in twenty years time I can class him as a legend, but, for now, he is a music composer/singer/actor who has had ample success  because of his LOYAL FANS, - However, the tides could change very soon because I think that he has lost a lot of credibility and respect through Saregamapa 2007.  (E.G.) I was the biggest Himesh fan ever and I am no longer!

Jenna:) I must admit that after watching SRGMP, a lot of fans have told me that they WERE Himesh fans and have now become Raja fans, (this includes me) how do you feel about that?

Jenna:) How do you feel about the love you have received from your fans and is there anything that you would like to say to them?

Raja:) My fans love me a lot .......&  i too love them........i  just wanna say that plz pray for me as i want to win the best singer of the year award [2008]...Thank u - My heart is always beating with u...

(Jenna's Comment/s:) One quality that I love about Raja is that he comes out with these beautiful heartfelt words, that are so random, and so sincere...(I mean, who comes out with words like; 'my heart is always beating with u?' - That is just so poetic and sweet!)