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Suniel Shetty breaks down on Indian Idol
Subhash K Jha
This week it's a veritable soap opera on Sony's Indian Idol. Star-judge Suniel Shetty, who gathered favourable reviews for his comic act in Shaadi Se Pehle, dissolved into tears when Karunya sang the show's theme song 'Mere saath sara jahaan' – a number written by Sameer and composed by Sandeep Chowta.
The song, about old memories, struggles, dreams and stardom, brought the house down. "As I sang the song I thought of all the hardships my mother went through to raise me. The emotions were real," recalls Karunya. Real enough to touch Suniel Shetty. "My son and daughter are crazy about you. I've also joined the gang. You're simply stunning," sobbed the actor, during the semi-finals, to be telecast on Monday, April 10.
Judges Anu Malik and Sonu Nigam were also teary-eyed. "I usually have a shayari ready for every occasion, but today I'm left speechless," Anu said.
Karunya also impressed the audience with his rendering of Manna Dey's 'Jhanak jhanak tore baaje payaliya'. It's a befitting finale to the gala rounds as Karunya had kicked off his long innings on Indian Idol with another Manna Dey classic, 'Kaun aaya mere man ke dware'.
Sonu Nigam then went on to narrate an incident he encountered on a flight. An air-hostess rushed to him with papers he thought were for an autograph. It turned out to be a letter for her favourite singer, Karunya. That letter, from Jet Airways hostess, Simran, will be read out on Indian Idol this week. We'll also learn about Karunya's devoted female fan from Saudi Arabia who got a friend in India to send in 23,400 SMS votes for the singer, because she couldn't.
Voting for the finals will continue until 9.30 p.m. on April 18, the day the finals will be telecast.
