Indian Idol, Sony's pride of last year, has been made out to be a big platform for struggling singers. The contestants as well as the show have been much hyped, and an equal amount of hullabaloo and crazy fans swooning over their 'heartthrobs' has been seen during both the two seasons of the show.
The Indian Idol platform promised to be a path breaker in the tough music industry, dominated by Bollywood, a key to quick fame and a big Sony contract. But do the winners and the 'finds' of such reality shows live up to their starry portrayals on screen after the title is forgotten? Is it that the talent that such shows bring into the limelight, have it easy only till they are under contract and not thereafter?
One can take the example of the very first Indian Idol- Abhijeet Sawant, whose 'rags to riches' story made big news as the viewers laughed and cried with him. He seems to have completely sunk into oblivion after the phase of the first season of Indian Idol. Apart from his two albums-Aapka Abhijeet and Yaarron, he has also sung for a couple of forgettable Bollywood songs- one by Himesh Reshammiya and the other by Sanjeev Darshan. Other than that, the singing idol has gone unnoticed. The only place he is seen lately is in a mouth freshener adfilm!
Some reports here and there state that Abhijeet is 'busy' doing live shows. But they seem to be reaching very limited and local audiences.
Now, Sandeep Acharya, the second Indian Idol is all set to release his first album as a part of the Indian Idol contract in a week. The twenty-two year old Bikaner boy recently completed recording his first album and is now going to 'explode' with his album and a concert in the city.
Speaking about his eight-song album titled 'Mere Saath Sara Jahan', Sandeep says, "The song that I sang for the finals 'Jaana Hai Mujhko', has also been made into two versions-the original one and a peppier one for the album." Talking about his personal favourites, he says, "I have always liked Kishoreda's songs and I felt 'Sagar Jaisi Aankhon Wali' would be an aural delight, so I have included that song along with 'Papa Kehta Hain', what I sung in the album with the 11 idol contestants, in the album."
Life's good to Sandeep, knowing that his star status has bestowed love and adoration from his fans across the country. Sandeep recounts an incident, "I had gone to Bikaner for my campaigning and there was a boy, about seven years old, who had painstakingly decorated his whole home with five thousand roses and written 'I love you Sandeep' with them. I was so
overwhelmed."
Karunya, who will be performing with Sandeep and the others, too seemed to be on a high. Karunya, who was in the race with Sandeep, is positive for his playback-singing career, "I have just recorded a song for 'Munnabhai Second Innings' and I'm waiting for my launch with the Vidhu Vinod Chopra banner. I'm busy doing shows and will be going to the US for one soon. I have also been offered many Telugu, Kannada and Tamil songs. So these days, I keep shuttling between, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai where work beckons."
Only time will tell, whether the contestants of the second season of Idol, will fade into the many struggling faces from where they were up heaved or get a breakthrough in the playback industry. (Source: http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthep ress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=May2006_inbombay_stan dard9744)
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