Dream run picks up pace (About Sandeep)

If Year One saw a struggling stage singer from Mumbai become the country's first Indian Idol, the second season of the Sony talent hunt has thrown up a 22-year-old Bikaner boy as the nation's agla choice. He may have come in second at a local singing contest but his million-rupees smile (Rs 1 crore is what the Sony contract is worth) managed to rake in enough SMS votes to edge past the more critically appreciated voice of Hyderabad hunk N. Karunya.

So now it's time for Sandeep Acharya to rake in the extras. After the title, the contract and the car, he's now on to a solo concert, a new album and the music videos to promote his debut effort. The concert named after his first album, Mere Saath Saara Jahaan, took place at Mumbai's Thakur Auditorium in Kandivalli last Saturday evening and will be telecast on Sony this Saturday at 8 pm.

Hosted by show anchors Aman Verma and Mini Mathur, the concert not only featured Sandeep rendering tracks from his album one after the other, it also had the other Indian Idol 2 finalists coming on stage for group performances.

But the spotlight was, of course, on Sandeep whose debut album has been composed by Sandeep Chowtha and written by Sameer. And the Mast man has really worked hard with his digital music to make his namesake's voice sound different from Udit Narayan's.

Among the judges, only Farah Khan could make it to the concert and she launched Sandeep's album. "I couldn't say it openly when he used to sing but I could feel from inside that mera bachcha sabse achha ga raha tha...," confessed an emotional Farah before tearing off the ribbon holding the album together.

A lot of new faces from Sony's new shows made an appearance at the concert. If Sudeepa Singh (female lead in Kabhi To Nazar Milao) dedicated Kinna sona tainu rab ne banaya to Sandeep, Pallavi Kulkarni (slated to play the title character of Vaidehi in Aruna Irani's new serial) sang the mukhra of the Hum Tum title song. Kanchi Kaul of Ek Ladki Anjaani Si fame was also there.

The Idol finalists sounded in great touch, as they belted out chartbusters like Salaam namaste and Tauba tauba even as they grooved to the pacy beats. They may not have clinched the title but are surely getting all the right calls. While Karunya has already recorded for Munnabhai 2nd Innings and is also into Tamil and Telugu playback in a big way, Calcutta's Monali Thakur has sung for the forthcoming Salman-Akshay-Preity-starrer Jaaneman.

But it was Sandeep's evening all right and the presence of his parents and a big gang from Bikaner made it all the more special. "I have been dreaming about becoming the Idol for the last six months and let me tell you, it still seems like a big dream. It feels good, though, that all the hard work I put in has paid off," the man of the moment told Metro.