Idol finally goes All India

Idol finally goes All India

Eight kids, rapidly cannibalised by fame. Youngsters largely from small towns, these newcomers to Mumbai have been thrust into a fierce, crazy spotlight. Do or die is all very well, but these kids just want to sing.

With only eight of them left, we caught up with the Indian Idol class of 2007 -- and came away smiling at a fresh, naive group of kids. Here's a look at four of thrilled, anxious aspirants, in the first part of this series.

Abhishek Kumar, 20. Dhanbad

Best known for his baseball cap -- something that hasn't left his head (don't worry, the boy washes it) since Sonu Nigam appreciatively touched it at a college festival last December -- Abhishek's smoothly slipped into Bollywood savvy. He has 250 caps, and superbly handles the inevitable comparison with current music supreme Himesh Reshammiya. 'He wears his cap backwards, I wear mine straight. So you can call me Reshammiya Himesh.'

Part of the unlikely Dhanbad contingent -- three strong finalists remain from the small Jharkhand town -- Abhishek comes from an engineering background, evidenced by his dad and siblings. He was studying Computer Science in Bangalore before dropping his final year exams for Idol.

"But I had the passion," he says. Taking to singing two-three years ago, this is a star-struck youth, visibly ecstatic as he talks about being put up in the same room former Idol hopefuls Amey Date and Sagar stayed in. "Feels like I'm following in their footsteps," he says, ignoring the fact that neither of the mentioned boys could win the show.

The Idol kids are kept in two apartments, separated by gender. The boys have been having a blast, all staying in one flat, two to a room. "If someone leaves this group, it'll be very sad. We live like a family. Even if we return home at 3 in the morning, all six will sit in one room and do masti. There's no phone, no newspaper, no TV, but we end up having a lot of fun anyway," he grins. "And we really don't want anyone to be eliminated now. I think anyone can end up as the Idol, but we're already Idols in a way."

He smiles as he talks about his changing life. "In the market, or in the car," he begins, then grins bashfully. "When people see the cap, they think of me. They yell, come up to me. It feels great!" he exclaims.

And then there's the reaction back home, where the three hopefuls have been plastered across larger than life hoardings across the town and the state. "Dhanbad is a tiny place, and there are posters of all three of us. I can't wait to go back, to see the reaction. And Ma says that when she's walking down the street now, she's recognised," he pauses, visibly chuffed, "as Abhishek's mother."

"So she's very proud, and they're very emotional." And deservedly so.

Idol finally goes All India

Puja Chatterjee, 18. Dhanbad

Puja is calm, composed and only too glad to be speaking in Bengali, something she misses terribly out here with the Idol gang. Once she does get started, though, the experienced performer talks nineteen to the dozen, enthusiastically and candidly detailing her versatile repertoire of stage shows -- she began learning singing at the age of four, has won several awards and performed alongside many a celeb.

"Just not with Lataji," she sighs. "Lataji is my idol. I had a programme in Netaji Indoor Stadium [in Kolkata] and Lataji was supposed to come but she couldn't make it."

Her background is dazzling, as she proudly talks about her cricketing family -- her father plays State Level, uncle plays Ranji Trophy, cousin is the vice captain of Jharkhand, and "my brother's just in Class IX, but he'll play State now too," she smiles.

There's a lot she gushes about, and one can't help but wonder: with all this behind her, doesn't a mere reality TV show feel like just another event? "Well," she admits, "a lot has happened in life."

Despite spending weekends learning music in Kolkata, Puja's yet another Dhanbad candidate, visiting home once during the Idol break to see her grandma. And, far from the cocoon Idol creates, cutting off its contestants from the hype-filled world at large, she has tasted the hysteria.

"The crowds went crazy! It was amazing," she trills, before settling herself down again. "Dhanbad is a very small place, and it feels so good to have other people from Dhanbad here, competing with me. Dhanbad was an industrial town, you know. Now that the industries have closed down, I want people to know that town at least through talent. Be it me or the other two, it'll feel good to have an Indian Idol from Dhanbad."

There is a gender issue overshadowing the Idol voting currently, with evidently deserving women candidates being ousted while the men-folk stay. "It was a shock to see Jolly Das leave. Or Smita, who was of my level, as a singer," admits Puja. "The voting is getting unfair. The Idol should be about talent, not about men or women. The results are just proving that Indian people still think women should sit at home, settle down. We've had a woman queen, a PM, a president. I hope a woman can be Indian Idol too."

She loves her Idol peers, but has just one complaint. "I'm the most experienced in the lot in terms of singing, so everyone comes to me to help them out," she sighs. "'Puja, teach me this notation,' 'Puja, how does this harkat go?' I don't mind and I love them all. But I'm also learning, just like them. I'm young. And I'm nervous."

Idol finally goes All India

Ankita Mishra, 17. Kanpur

It's been an exciting afternoon for Ankita, the youngest of the finalists. She was just serenaded by Riteish Deshmukh -- her second favourite actor, after Emraan Hashmi but ahead of Upen Patel -- on an Idol special, and she refuses to believe she was blushing. "I was blushing? I don't know what blushing is," she exclaims, helpfully turning red at the very thought. "Stop it! Really? I couldn't control it, I don't know what'll happen if Emraan Hashmi's ever in front of me." Bright scarlet, now.

The convent-educated Class XI girl is still reeling from the lifestyle change. She talks of waking up at five, going for coaching classes, the scorching Kanpur summer and sweaty commutes. "It was all okay, but it was nothing exciting. I wouldn't be talking about my schedule to anyone, and no one would ask," she smiles. "Now, every day is a new day! We're shooting, going to radio channels, meeting fans. It's great."

Ankita has already tasted Idol defeat, being voted out but then called upon to return as a wildcard reentry into the contest. "I left, but you know what, I just felt that that was not the end, I'll be back -- maybe not here, but somewhere else. And then I got the news that I was selected for the wildcard entry. After getting eliminated, I realised how important it was. I started taking things very seriously after that."

A minor, Ankita's the only one to have her mother as a roommate. "But she had gone for a while for my sister's engagement, and I couldn't go," she moans. "I've not even seen my jeeju(brother-in-law). I'm doing my best this weekend because I'm hoping that my dad, mom, sis and jeeju will come to see the show. Which means more pressure, because I should sing really, really well in front of them, right?"

Idol finally goes All India

Emon Chatterjee, 17. Kolkata

The bespectacled Emon's come a long way. From vocals and guitars -- plus an occasional turn at the drums -- for high school band Evil Rockers, the soft-spoken lad is now one of the Idol favourites, merrily strumming an acoustic guitar for his fellow rivals.

"I've performed before, so the stage isn't that much of an adjustment for me," he says, underplaying his 300 stage shows. "But here, I'm singing in front of such great names. It's incredible."

His publisher father and housewife mother, have both always goaded Emon ahead. "They've always indulged and encouraged me. My father is an excellent singer and my mother is just such an inspiring personality. And from a very young age, they taught me to focus on my passions," he says. "They said in today's day, there is no place for the mediocre. You have to be at the top, or very near the top."

Right now, he accepts the surreality of instant success. "It's like crossing a river," he muses philosophically, liberally using sing-song phrases. "I was on one side, and these celebrities were on the other. And now I'm here, talking to them, shaking hands with them, singing with them. I don't get time to think all day -- shootings, rehearsals, songs -- but at night, I lie back and think about how my life has changed. And Indian Idol's been like a bridge for me. I would have swum and crossed the river, I would have been a versatile playback singer either way, but Indian Idol helped me get to this position faster."

He misses his friends, rattling off a list of names, notably Akash Aggarwal, who stayed up all night to make sure Emon got registered for the Idol auditions. And there's visible affection as he talks about his folks, who've never let him get too full of himself. "There are times I could see dad longing to say I've sung very well, but he wouldn't. And I would look at him and laugh. Even now, they say look at Ankita's performance, listen to the way Amit's singing."

He loves staying with the other hopefuls, but has consciously tried to keep a distance 'because we're so close now that it'll be really sad to see any of them leave.'

But detachment isn't that easy, and Emon's utterly fascinated with Deepali. "She's just a close friend. We share everything, and keep many secrets. And now the girls are being eliminated, and I'm scared for her. Last week, I was really scared. If she leaves, I don't even want to think what I'll do. We have a different connection."

And what if it's just Emon and Deepali at the end, fighting for the crown? "Oh, I see Deepali as the Indian Idol. She's a really deserving candidate, a very versatile singer. I don't mind if she wins, definitely. I mean it from the core of my heart."

Meet Deepali and the other three finalists in the second part of our Idol series.