Indian Idol contestant makes acting debut with Sha

By Subhash K Jha

Tired of watching Vishal Singh play the hero's best friend over and over again? He was Shahid Kapoor's sounding-board in Ishq Vishq and Kismat Connection.

But now Shahid has found a new best- friend on screen. It is Indian Idol finalist Meiyung Chang from Dhanbad in Jharkhand.

Meiyung who rose to fame not only through his singing in Season 3 of the reality show but also with his relationship with fellow-contestant Monali Thakur, makes his movie debut in Yashraj Films' Shahid-Anushka Sharma starrer directed by Parmeet Sethi.

Chang, as he's affectionately known in the industry, has been strictly prohibited from talking about his acting debut.

So we asked the film's music composer Pritam Chakraborty if he had any hand in Meiyung's casting.After all Meiyang Chang's girlfriend Monali Thakur rose to fame with Pritam's composition Zara zara touch me in Race. It's believed Pritam played cupid between the two Indian Idol contestants.

Pritam denies having a hand in Meiyung's love life or his career. "Chang is a dear friend and he is seeing Monali. But I had nothing to do with it. Nor did I have any hand in his casting in Parmeet's film. I'm only the music composer on that project."