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The chance to live a dream Indian-Style
Being on Indian Idol is a life-changing experience for those few who make it,writes Somini Sengupta in Mumbai.
For a glimpse in the hungry hearts of young India, step inside a giant studio in the country's film and telivision capital for the weekly taping of Indian Idol 2.This is where Indians come to be discovered:Antara Mitra from a remote Eastern Border in Bengal,Amey Date from a small third-floor walk-up in central Mumbai,Sandeep Acharya from a small town in Rajasthan and NC Karunya,on leave from an Engineering College,Hyderabad.
Winnowed from 30,000 contestants who lined up on the first day of auditions,these four contestants were among the show's eight finalists this spring.They were all in their late teens and 20s.All had been studying music since they were children.Each dreamed of becoming a professional singer dog-eat-dog Indian movie industry.Indian Idol was their one chance of reaching the top.
"I have to show people I have talent,"explained Date,26."This is the best platform in India."
A platform for the would-be stars,yes,but also a peephole into the zeitgeist of young India.
'Indian Idol', a variation of 'American Idol', is one among a spate of talent hunts that havemushroomed across the television landscape in the past couple of years.'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge',a stand-up comedy contest,is in its second season.'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa', a song contest named after the notes of the Indian musical scale,wrapped up its first season ion February.
If nothing else, the proliferation of these contests testifies to a powerful set of beliefs among a generation of middle-class Indian youth:that they can make it on merit,that democracy willtrounce favouritism and that no matter whether a contestant has unsung small-town roots or lacks family connections,talent will be recognised-and that the masses of unsung small-town Indians can make that possible.
Most contestants are from far-flung places in India,distant from the upscale parts such as Mumbai, formerly Bombay.Winners are chosen by popular vote.The contests are all inHindi, which is increasingly the lingua franca of the country,thanks to the expansion of Hindi Film and Television well beyond India's traditional northern Hindi belt.
"It's our way of participating,in a vicarious manner,in this great Mumbai dream," said Shailaja Bajpai, a television critic at 'The Indian Express', an English Language daily."It says,'OK,we can rise'."
The winner of 'Indian Idol' wins a Sony recording contract,a new car and most important of all,apriceless shot at stardom.
Last year's winner Abhijeet Sawant,24,not only has recorded an album but also has spent much of the past year performing concerts in India and overseas.His autobiography,'Aap Ka Abhijeet'-in English, 'Your Abhijeet'-chronicles his rise from obscurity to stardom.
Repeatedly this year,the judges on 'Indian Idol2' appealed to viewers to cast their votes on the basis of merit,not parochial pride,so exasperated were they by what they suspected to be a flood of votes from people in the cow belt of North India to prop up their favourite candidates.Indeed when Date was voted out in one of the final rounds in March,the television studio audience revolted,encircling the judges in the parking lot and demanding a rematch.
"We Indians are very emotional people," the host Mini Mathur, conceded on the next episode.In the end,there was no rematch;in keeping with the rules of the game,the popular vote remained the final verdict.An outvoted Date returned home to the apartment he shares with his mother.A stack of posters lay on the windowsill,urging votes for the "Mumbai Boy Amey Date".
Date is unsure what he will do next.Until his effort to win 'Indian Idol2,Date supported his mother by giving singing lessons.
Acharya,"The Boy from Bikaner", was crowned the 'Indian Idol2'.
Being on Indian Idol is a life-changing experience for those few who make it,writes Somini Sengupta in Mumbai.
For a glimpse in the hungry hearts of young India, step inside a giant studio in the country's film and telivision capital for the weekly taping of Indian Idol 2.This is where Indians come to be discovered:Antara Mitra from a remote Eastern Border in Bengal,Amey Date from a small third-floor walk-up in central Mumbai,Sandeep Acharya from a small town in Rajasthan and NC Karunya,on leave from an Engineering College,Hyderabad.
Winnowed from 30,000 contestants who lined up on the first day of auditions,these four contestants were among the show's eight finalists this spring.They were all in their late teens and 20s.All had been studying music since they were children.Each dreamed of becoming a professional singer dog-eat-dog Indian movie industry.Indian Idol was their one chance of reaching the top.
"I have to show people I have talent,"explained Date,26."This is the best platform in India."
A platform for the would-be stars,yes,but also a peephole into the zeitgeist of young India.
'Indian Idol', a variation of 'American Idol', is one among a spate of talent hunts that havemushroomed across the television landscape in the past couple of years.'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge',a stand-up comedy contest,is in its second season.'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa', a song contest named after the notes of the Indian musical scale,wrapped up its first season ion February.
If nothing else, the proliferation of these contests testifies to a powerful set of beliefs among a generation of middle-class Indian youth:that they can make it on merit,that democracy willtrounce favouritism and that no matter whether a contestant has unsung small-town roots or lacks family connections,talent will be recognised-and that the masses of unsung small-town Indians can make that possible.
Most contestants are from far-flung places in India,distant from the upscale parts such as Mumbai, formerly Bombay.Winners are chosen by popular vote.The contests are all inHindi, which is increasingly the lingua franca of the country,thanks to the expansion of Hindi Film and Television well beyond India's traditional northern Hindi belt.
"It's our way of participating,in a vicarious manner,in this great Mumbai dream," said Shailaja Bajpai, a television critic at 'The Indian Express', an English Language daily."It says,'OK,we can rise'."
The winner of 'Indian Idol' wins a Sony recording contract,a new car and most important of all,apriceless shot at stardom.
Last year's winner Abhijeet Sawant,24,not only has recorded an album but also has spent much of the past year performing concerts in India and overseas.His autobiography,'Aap Ka Abhijeet'-in English, 'Your Abhijeet'-chronicles his rise from obscurity to stardom.
Repeatedly this year,the judges on 'Indian Idol2' appealed to viewers to cast their votes on the basis of merit,not parochial pride,so exasperated were they by what they suspected to be a flood of votes from people in the cow belt of North India to prop up their favourite candidates.Indeed when Date was voted out in one of the final rounds in March,the television studio audience revolted,encircling the judges in the parking lot and demanding a rematch.
"We Indians are very emotional people," the host Mini Mathur, conceded on the next episode.In the end,there was no rematch;in keeping with the rules of the game,the popular vote remained the final verdict.An outvoted Date returned home to the apartment he shares with his mother.A stack of posters lay on the windowsill,urging votes for the "Mumbai Boy Amey Date".
Date is unsure what he will do next.Until his effort to win 'Indian Idol2,Date supported his mother by giving singing lessons.
Acharya,"The Boy from Bikaner", was crowned the 'Indian Idol2'.
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