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Antara Mitra
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Antara Mitra (born July 10 1987 in West Bengal, India) was one of the top five contestants in the reality show Indian Idol 2 on Indian Television, broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television. Ms. Mitra was voted out of that show on March 7th, 2006, leaving a large number of devoted fans very disappointed by her seemingly premature departure. She was also the highest-standing female of the second season of the contest series and a favorite of all three of the show's celebrity talent judges. An admirer of Indian singers Asha Bhonsle, Alka Yagnik, Kishore Kumar, Sonu Nigam [also one of the celebrity judges on Indian Idol 2], and Jagjit Singh, Antara hopes that some day her star will rise to similarly lofty heights as theirs. She is already well on her way to national and international fame. Speculations about why the voting public failed to support her include that the preponderance of voters being women, they voted almost exclusively for the male contestants – and for the second time in two years of this television contest, a male won after the elimination of all female contestants weeks before the season finale. There was also an assertion that one "too simple" song choice cost her the competition. But she balked at the claim that she "should be given a break because she's the last remaining female," saying that she had competed with males since early childhood and she wanted no special treatment due to her gender.

Mitra grew up with music: her father is a music teacher. Since the tender age of three, Antara would sing along with other children who came home to learn music from her father. A funloving and straightforward girl, Antara is a confident performer, something that even noted film choreographer and reputedly 'critical' Indian Idol judge Farah Khan openly accepted during the "theatre round."

But as she approached adulthood, her love of music did not prevent Antara from considering other career options. At one time she was keen on taking up the study of medicine, but she abandoned that idea upon seeing the high fees for such a course [one in which she also did not already have a familial connection]—anyway her love for performing is obvious. Today in India, she is pursuing her career as a professional singer, if not a music teacher or a professor, like her father, with forthcoming recordings in the massive Indian film industry already promised by none other than Indian Idol celebrity judge and film music director Anu Malik. Many top artists also teach music in order to pass along traditions and techniques that Antara has obviously already mastered, and she may consider doing some teaching along her career path as well.

Stunningly beautiful with youthful charm and a dazzling smile, many of her fans insist that Antara should also pursue modeling and endorsements, putting her natural beauty to work on behalf of one or more commercial businesses such as a cosmetics firm or high-fashion clothing manufacturer. Sadly, in her native India, there remains discrimination against people of darker complexion, and some discouraging remarks on a discussion board for the TV show insisted that she was not "model material." But "the look" pursued by fashion and advertising mavens for female models has finally begun to open up to Africans and Asians, and her fans won't be at all surpised to see her smiling face grace the cover and editorial pages of Vogue and similar magazines as well as film and television, because Antara has both the charm and good looks that combine to produce an inspiring combination of beauty and brains. Her striking talents for singing and dancing onstage make her a "quadruple threat" in the difficult-to-pursue, often harsh and fickle entertainment industry. She's beautiful, smart, and can sing and dance, a natural candidate for acting roles as well.

Antara epitomises all for which the show "Indian Idol" stands. Originally hailing from a small village on the Indo-Bangladeshi border, Anatara represents talent extracted from the countryside of the remarkably colorful and diverse nation of India that later blossomed in the glitz and glamour of Mumbai. She rose to prominence through carefully developed skills and hard work and appears to be poised on the outset of a brilliant international career. She has fans around the globe solely from her television appearances thanks to cable and satellite broadcast television. A headline might read, "Gifted Desi Bengal Girl Makes Good."

Often described as the strongest contestent on Indian Idol 2, the rare beauty with an amazing voice, Antara came a long way from her small town roots to national prominence. Her evolution may have transformed her into India's next female pop star, and in any case her thrilling performances in the Sony Entertainment Television series has proven that this "small-town girl" is set to go far in the field of entertainment!

The journey of Indian Idol

Indian singer Antara Mitra smiles following a judge's comment on her beautyAntara Mitra comes from a village in West Bengal, near Calcutta, India—from Maslandapur, a cooperative village so small that it isn't even shown on most maps! From a very young age, Antara always showed a keen interest in music, and her father inspired her. Her father did not achieve much notoriety with his singing... but he kept hopes that perhaps his only child could go on to achieve such a thing (prominence as a musical artist).

Antara watched the first season of Indian Idol on TV and thought that maybe she'd have a chance too. Off went Antara to the Calcutta Indian Idol Selections! The judges were so impressed that they immediately insisted that she MUST come to Mumbai. Judge and Indian singing sensation Sonu Nigam was "shocked" at her singing abilities, and Farah Khan said that she had a lot of presence—although when she entered the competition she was "not much of a looker," but her beauty and fashion makeovers had transformed her into one of the most beautiful girls in the competition. Antara looked better than ever, and with the help of her confidence-inspiring looks, her singing improved as well.

In the Piano Round, which was the first round when the viewing public voting was invited, she sang the popular song "Rangeela Re" from the film Rangeela. The first Indian Idol winner, Abhijeet Sawant, said that he was shocked by how this young 18-year-old girl from a small village has sung and performed "so well" and that even 'city people' cannot perform like how she did. Farah Khan thought that she did "too much of a good job." Anu Malik labeled her "My Playback Singer," and Antara said that was the best compliment. On the next day of the TV show, it was announced that Antara had bagged the Most Votes and was on her way to the compete in the gala rounds.

The real battle had begun and Indian Idol's official competition stages had started! Antara for the first time performed in front of the huge podium, with the three respected judges and the millions of TV-viewing audience nationwide looking and listening on. Antara sang the song "Ruki Ruki Thi Zindagi." She got decent comments, Anu Malik telling her that she should not worry, because she will come to the next round "for sure." Farah Khan said her performance was that of an international superstar and that Antara looked like an "international superstar." Sonu told her to not move around as much. But still the judges wanted more!

In the second gala she sang "Tu Ruta To," and the only positive comment she got was "Your voice is beautiful" from Anu Malik. Sonu and Farah still felt she had way more to offer. Next gala, she showed improvement with the song "Tere Bina." But it was her performances of "Zara Zara" and "Morani Baga" that left the judges speechless—they had no words to express their reactions! Antara truly redeemed herself and with these three performances alone, she was obvioulsy destined to go farther.

Her next performance, of "Bairi Piya" was uncharacteristically "average," but her parents had also come to to the Mumbai studio watch her for the first time to surpise the young singer, which led to an emotional, tearful family reunion on camera, especially between the proud mother and daughter. In the Results episode that followed, it was declared that, for the first time, she was in the bottom two (in danger of leaving the competition)! The following week featured her final gala appearance, and she left, reportedly due to a bad song choice and the lowest number of viewer votes for the day, although rumors swirled suggesting that by that time Antara herself already wished to leave and to be done with the onscreen competition.

Antara Mitra was the last female standing and competed to reach the Top Five contestants. She had the most impressive record of not being "in danger" on the Indian Idol 2 TV series: she was only in danger once! Also, in the galas, she received the most votes three times... specifically for her performances of "Ruki Ruki Thi Zindagi," "Zara Zara," and "Morani Baga."

Her performance of "Zara Zara" garnered her 35% of the overall votes, and her performance of Morani Baga fetched her an impressive 70% of the overall votes—a feat not previously achieved by a contestant in any of the many singing Idol series worldwide! Antara definitely made a great impression on judges and viewers alike, and her comeraderie with other contestants also went well. She was one of the youngest contestants in this competition, even junior in years to also-young Karunya, Neha, Sagar and Meenal. She formed friendships with the remarkably gifted series runner-up male vocalist NC Karunya, as well as female co-contestants Meenal Jain and Neha Kakkar.

Antara left the Indian Idol stage tearfully, but with her dignity intact – announcing that this is not the end of the road for her, but a new beginning. Anu Malik publicly announed that she will be his playback singer and that he will will definitely offer her work. Antara went back to her home town and then returned at the beginning of April, 2006, relocating to the "New York" of India: Mumbai. Thus began the story of India's next vocal superstar. For many fans, she is "their" Indian Idol!

Indian Idol :: Antara Mitra

Bollywood playback singing talent.
Antara Mitra grew up with music: Her father is a music teacher. Since the age of three, Antara would sing along with other children who came home to learn music from her father. But this didn't mean that Antara didn't consider other career options. At one time, she was keen on taking up medicine but gave up the thought on discovering the high fees for the course. Today she aims to be a singer, if not a music teacher or a professor, like her father. A fun-loving and straightforward girl, Antara is a confident performer, something that even Farah Khan accepted during the theatre round. An admirer of Asha Bhonsle, Alka Yagnik, Kishore Kumar, Sonu Nigam and Jagjit Singh, Antara hopes that some day, someone will take her name in the same league.

Antara's Indian Idol journey has been quite smooth. She has received appreciation from all quarters and is determined to at least make it to the final 12. A lover of classic novels and a big fan of sleeping, Antara aims to awaken her destiny with Indian Idol!

kool tfs!
gr8 pics thnx 4 the articles

wow thanx for sharing the grt pics & informative articles 😊

Thanks for the articles and pix.

Indian Idle? Mumbai Power, Go Get it.

Originally posted by: Qwest

Indian Idle? Mumbai Power, Go Get it.

Not having access to television during my five years in Bangalore, I missed out on the excitement surrounding Indian Idol 1, which elected Mumbai boy Abhijeet Sawant.



I was in Calcutta on the day of the final matchup between golden haired Sawant and gnome like Amit Sana. My extended family abandoned dinner miday to turn on the television. And my family is terribly fond of eating, they ate through 9/11 and the 2004 election results.

Away from home, I scout the net for Indian television shows and Indian Idol supplies a steady source of entertainment for me. There is just something compelling about watching people making complete fools of them in national television. (I also watch the Jerry Springer show whenever I can). Once the national selection rounds of Indian Idol were over, things got a little less interesting. Most of the people selected sang fairly well. So apart from Anu Maliks terrible shairi there was little to look forward. I always fastforward till it reaches the point when someone is kicked out.

For those unfamiliar with the program, the two hosts (Aman "Casting Couch" Varma and Mini "Bubbles" Mathur) announce the three contestants with the lowest votes. They all get to sing a song, and then follows the "questioning". Everyone from the judges, the contestants, their mothers, their neighbours, audience members to the studio watchman are asked who they think should be voted out. After each response the contestants (some on the verge of tears) are asked "To aapko kya mehsoos so raha hai" (trans. How are you feeling?). Once, the final votes are declared the rejectee breaks down. The judges say nice things (Anu Malik usually promises them a song), they are made to sing their swan song (for some reason all the other contestants sing along for moral support) and they leave after writing a message on the "Asian Paints" grafiti board.

But ever since Monali Thakur left sobbing, the exits have been rather quiet. I was getting tired of the brave stoic smiles. The only entertainment was the ridiculous product placements. For instance, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra tell the contestants that a successful idol needs to be like Pepsi Cafechino. Or the contestants decide to put Parachute coconut oil in their hair before playing Holi.


Anyway, the last episode was total paisa vasool. Basically there were four singers left. Two (Amey Date and Karunya) were said to be good, one (Sandeep) was middling and the last (Anuj) was quite bad. Anyway, the janata happiy voted out Amey Date.

There was a moment of stunned silence. Anu Malik held his head as he is about to swoon and said "Oh god!". Then, Sonu Nigam got up shaking his head. "This is not done, this is wrong, we are not ready to be a part of this" and the three judges decided to storm off. When an agitated Mini Mathur said "Yeh Janta ka faisla hai" (It's the people's decision), they retorted that this was there decision. The Amey Date Fan club in the audience got up on its feet and started yelling. Amey's mother, a dignified lady began to shove and yell at her neighbours. An entire row of middle aged women tried to leave at the same time casuing a traffic jam in the aisles.



Amey, to give him credit, was more than a little embarassed and called on his mother and friends to stop. "Its just a game", he pleaded. "It's injustice", the audience hollered back. The poor Anuj chap, looked like he wanted the stage to swallow him. Aman Varma yelled at the audience while Mini Mathur pleaded, breaking into English. The judges returned reluctantly and said that they want a rematch!! Shock and awe! The judges could not watch injustice. Sonu Nigam sounding like a combination of Gandhi and Justice Pal's dissent on the Tokyo Tribunal said that even though they were bound by rules, they could not allow a wrong.



Anuj's fiery teenage niece yelled at Farah Khan at making an exception for Amey and not earlier for any of the other contestants. There was a virtual brawl between Sonu Nigam, Farah Khan, Anu Malik and a teenaged schoolgirl. When she alleged that Amey might have support of the local audience, Anu Malik was very strange and said, lets not talk of Mumbai, we are all Indians.

Amey Date bravely said that he wanted to play by the rules. A tearful Anu Malik said he was in love with Amey and he was his Indian Idol.

Whew! I am running out of breath. Before I end I must mention hostess Rakshanda Khan who was interviewing Amey backstage breaking into tears. I'm not sure what to make of this People Power brand of justice. Too much RDB perhaps?

OMG this is so hilarious😆😆

Thanks😃

thnx 4 da picz and article!!! 😃