When contestant Aneek Dhar rendered "Sandese aate hai" from the film "Border" in the Independence Day Special of musical talent hunt "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007", Vishal of the music-director duo Vishal-Shekhar couldn't hide his tears.

Dedicating the song to our armed men manning the borders, Aneek put his heart and soul in the song to earn kudos from all the judges.

Vishal, who claims to have never cried at any performance to date, was a bit embarrassed, yet modest: "I have two weaknesses. I am emotional about my country and about good music. The song which Aneek sang was a combination of both.

Though I am a tough guy and I hate such emotional outbursts, it just happened and I couldn't control myself. I had even asked them to edit this part but they didn't."

Shekhar pointed out that though people think Vishal comes across as a very rude person, in reality, he was soft-hearted and very emotional even about small things in life.

Vishal was not ashamed of his display of emotions either. "Every artiste is emotional and so am I," he said matter-of-factly. The patriotic song closest to his heart is 'Vande Mataram', while all own compositions are favourites "because Shekhar and I make music that we personally like".

Vishal expressed his disappointment over the cancellation of the show scheduled to be held on the Wagah border due to security reasons.

"I don't think it's a security problem. There are people who don't want things to get better between India and Pakistan. Music has always played a vital role in bridging this gap. If this show had happened, it would have helped the peace process a lot," he rued.