Where is India's Jennifer Hudson?

Where is India's Jennifer Hudson?

As talent hunt shows return to the telly, it is time to check what happened to the prior winners of these shows. Also, will we see these shows making stars out of their participants, a la
Jennifer Hudson and Sanjaya Malakar?

PRIYANKA SRIVASTAVA

As another round of talent hunts begin on telly, nobody seems to be watching with bated breath. Indian viewers are used to the routine now — serpentine queues, sparring judges, tears and the final 'ohmygawd' moment. But despite a talent show on every channel — all of which seem to be in their nth season, India's yet to see a superstar emerge from them.
Shift the focus to American Idol and the scene is entirely different. Jennifer Hudson, who won the Oscar for the best supporting actress this time, is an American Idol find. Sanjaya Malakar, of weird hairdos and arguably no talent, may have been voted out of the contest, but he did get more than his 15 minutes of fame. He has been invited to the White House, is as popular as the contestants in the fray for the US presidency and has Britney Spears showing interest in working with him!
However, in India, the stars fade almost immediately. Ask Rahul Vaidya, who showed great promise and was the blue-eyed boy of the Indian Idol judges, but is still waiting for a major break. "Yes, I have had my share of the limelight, but, I am still waiting for one major break, which will help me make a mark in Bollywood," he says. Rahul was applauded by the judges of the contest, so, are they not helping him? "No, there is no help or push of the sorts. In the end, you are one in the rat race," he says.
Even the channels seem to lose interest in the contestants after the shows are over. For instance, at the beginning of Zee Cine Star ki Khoj, the channel had announced that a film will be made with the finalist, but the project never took off. Sarwar Ahuja, one of the finalists, has said, "I don't know what happened to the film. I thought it would be easy for us after winning the contest, but now we have to struggle like any other newcomer in the industry."
Aditi Paul, another runner up of Indian Idol, says, "Struggle remains part of the game, and you get to know this as and when the hype of the show settles down. The winners of talent shows become known faces and thus the struggle in Bollywood becomes even more difficult, as people have increased their expectations from them."
TV actor Panchi Bora feels that the reality shows are just a platform to showcase your talent. "One should not expect this will get you work. But, there are cases where people get carried away with the sudden success they achieve, so, frustration creeps in once the hype ends. There are very high frustration levels amongst these winners," she says. They made an entry...

SHRADHA ARYA: The runner up of Zee Cine Star ki Khoj is seen in many ad campaigns and also got a chance to play Amitabh's daughter in the film Nishabd

NC KARUNYA: The runner-up of Indian Idol 2 sang Anne charane… from the film Lage Raho Munna Bhai

PANCHI BORA: This MTV Talent Hunt winner is playing the lead in Ekta Kapoor's Qayamath

ADITI SHARMA AND SARVAR AHUJA:
While the channel never made the movie with these winners of Zee Cine Star ki Khoj,they played the lead in Mukta Arts' Khanna and Iyer

QAZI TAUFEEQ AND ROOPREKHA BANERJEE: The winners of Fame Gurukul are nowhere to be seen

SANDEEP ACHARYA: This lad from Rajasthan got instant appreciation and limelight after winning at Indian Idol 2,but, failed to make a mark so far

ABHIJEET SAWANT: The first Indian Idol has failed till now to take his career beyond his debut album Apka Abhijeet till now

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