 | In words of Deepa - presenting the Spotlight On Anuj Sharma with ad-libs thrown in by me in italics!
"Lamenting Lucknow: Anuj's Show, N.C. Karunya's Victory!"
This is exactly how I felt when I saw this episode. Thank God for N.C. Karunya and his normal-ness.
Indian Idol was on the road again…to the City of Nawabs- Lucknow.
They opened with a clip of someone saying that Anuj Sharma is a devta worth worshipping. At that moment, I knew that:
1) I need to throw up…again
2) He was paid loads of money to make such a blasphemous statement
And all the undertones! Men calling Anuj, khoobsurat (beautiful), upar se neeche (from top to bottom)! I just want to hit something. {I might seem like something, but I am not!} Not that there is anything wrong with men thinking that, but the hit-something notion comes from the fact that men and women both have the same sentiment! I mean, he's not Arjun Rampal {somewhere Mehr is thanking God!}. Stop it people! He's not khoobsurat, unless you're his fiance. {Or The Niece!}
And there was absolutely no reason to carry him in on a throne. Waaaaay too much! What were they thinking? Clearly, they weren't. {Forget the throne, what about that turban? What were they thinking then! I must admit that I felt like Rachel, who is looking at Chandler wearing a bread basket on his head! Please take it off!}
Anuj began his debacle of an episode with the song "Hum Logo Ko Samajh Sako" from the movie "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani". I think he left his 'Sur' in Himachal Pradesh, because it didn't make an appearance in Lucknow.
During the middle of his performance, he yelled, "We're proud to be an Indian!" Okay seriously, what the hell!! {Well, he has to compensate for the lack of Sur – I mean he is actually saying – I sing badly, but I am proud to be an Indian – hmm, what was the point I was trying to make! I forgot – err, never mind!}
Mad props to the girl who had the guts to come on stage in front of Anuj and cheer for Karunya. {Oh yeah, her name was Toppal – I think that's how one spells it! She was a feisty one! I think on the scales of true fans – she emerged on the top, because she was not creepy! I enjoyed that segment a lot!}
The second song Anuj rendered was "Kab Tak Jawani" from "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi!" Again, where was the Sur? {That's a stupid (not really) question, if he left his Sur in Himachal Pradesh, it was impossible for it to come on the stage!}
Oh wait; Karunya decided he wasn't going to share any of his this time! {Ah-Ha!}
Next on stage was Sandeep Acharya, singing the title song from "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai". Back to Udit Nayaran, but who cares? At least, it got Anuj off stage.
Now for a serious critique of Sandeep's performance.
First, it was better than Anuj's. He started off a little soft but found his voice as the song went on. He has a hard time hitting the low notes and remaining consistent when he does, but that's something that can be fixed. I don't want to be too harsh on him for that, even though he does need to practice it.
He also carried the crowd better than Anuj did. He had better stage presence. But that doesn't mean that he was amazing. He was simply better and definitely not the best. {His smile is seriously creepy!} No indeed, that spot is reserved for Karunya.
And then Anuj expressed a nice Sher (couplet) in a very bad way! He wasn't reciting poetry, he was regurgitating memorized lines. And to think, Mini actually called him a good Shayar! Belch. {Honey, if Anu Malik is the Ghalib of Indian Idol, Anuj can be a good Shayar!}
Next he sang "Deewana Dil" from "Pardes" (one of my favourite movies). This one was slightly better in terms of singing than the other two. At least he was actually singing and not yelling to music like he was in the first two songs. {Yeah, but he messed up many times – I noticed something that I had not – Anuj goes nasal at certain pitch!}
Finally, a moment of pure bliss {I could almost kiss you – don't worry, I won't because if you don't kill me, my gal will! But you have coined a wonderful description; it was pure bliss – like finding an oasis in a desert!} - Karunya came on and sang "Dhadak Dhadak" from "Bunty Aur Babli". {I love, love, love the song!}
This is the same song that got Sagar Sawarkar voted out in the first gala, but Karunya's rendition was a breath of fresh air after Anuj and Sandeep! {darn, I was thinking of the same thing! I was a little upset, because it brought back memories of Sagar – the twinky! If Sagar was not kicked off unfairly, the Indian Idol Saga on curlio.com would have never started!}
Now mind you, Karunya can be technically perfect (think Hum Tum, Layi Vi Na Gayi), but because this was a stage show, there was less of a focus on technicalities. With that said, he was technically good (not perfect), but he was the best of the three. And him singing with the little girl was darn cute! {I thought Karunya can perform with any scenario, because he indulged the people on the stage – did you notice that gal, who tried to mimic Karunya by sitting down next to the same gal? I thought that was funny!}
Time for my plug- Vote for Karunya if you live in India. 190 4424 2525 03 or type Karunya and send it to 2525 before 10 a.m. April 4. {Honey, if no one has voted for him till now, chances are they never will!}
Did someone really cut themselves for Anuj? I mean, with blood and all?? Seriously? I will say that Anuj did seem very genuine when he saw that. No denying he was touched. But who would do such a thing? Ouch! {Are you kidding! Anuj was genuine and touched? I thought he kind of freaked out a little! I would so freak out; if anyone did that in front of me, I would just turn around and run! Anuj putting a band-aid was sweet, but Run Anuj – Run! This was the highlight according to me, hence the title!}
All three came on to sing "Tu Hai Aasman Mein". I don't know what movie it's from {I think it is from "Iqbal"!}, but again, Anuj seemed like the weakest link. Their voices do not mesh together in the first place, but Anuj really stood out. It wasn't the power-packed performance you would expect from the top three in Indian Idol, but this is who we have, can't do a thing about it. {Sigh!}
Anuj closed with "Gur Nahlon Ishq Mitha" by Malkit Singh (made popular by gorgeous--and I mean gorgeous--Jas Arora and the beautiful Malaika Arora). It was a valiant effort, but Anuj doesn't have the voice or personality for such a song. What a poor choice! {Amen!}
And as with every episode, I have some positive points:
1) Karunya. Period. Just Karunya. {Hallelujah!}
2) It was actually nice to see Anuj open up so much for a change (even though his singing sucked and he said some weird things, at least he was enjoying himself- and it showed) {Well, I am glad you could see the positives!}
3) The feel of localness- the words they used, the outfit that Anuj was gifted. It rang true Lucknow and that was exciting {Oh I am so jealous, I have to search for something like that! It was lovely outfit!}
4) The clips of all the contestants who were voted out (so nice to see their faces again!) {Yeah, Sagar! Poor baby!}
As Elizabeth Bennett murmured to Mr. Wickham, "Yes, go! I would not have you back again!" And why? Because Mr. Darcy was the true hero and the only one truly deserving of her unconditional love.
Anuj became Lucknow's Wickham, clearing the way for Karunya. Let's hope they take Karunya to the top- he's the only one truly deserving (since Amey and Meenal are gone). {This is too sweet! Made me smile!}
My Power Ranking:
1) Karunya
2) Sandeep
3) Anuj
Well now, this was a joy to edit, because I can swear that I felt that I was editing something I would write and I think one must give mad-props to Ms. Lawyer AKA Deepa for stealing time from her case study and writing this recap, I was a bit worried, because the timings clashed and I thought maybe I will have to cover it on my own! Thanks Deepa, you are a doll and more!
I agree with everything she had to say – so no rants, but here are certain things that freaked me out:
I was so bored that I can swear my eyes glazed over and I swear for a secondm, I actually thought that Anuj actually looked like Tom Cruise! Isn't that scary?
Also, I swear to God that I thought I saw 'The Niece' in the audience, but then I am sure that was just my imagination influenced by Uttam!
I was rather irritated by that Anuj's fan, who spoke in that God awful voice – I think everyone was cringing as the guy went on about the voting! Things people do for two seconds of fame! Sigh!
I thought the show was better organized than in Ahmedabad! I am just hoping that the evenings are still cold, because jackets featured in Lucknow as well!
There I am done!
Once again – say thanks to Deepa that y'all are reading the article beautifully executed by her!
On with the discussion!
Cheers! | | |
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