When hope and fear went hand-in-hand
There may not have been any celebrities on the sets, but the second day of the piano rounds on Indian Idol had its starry moments. The highlight of the show was when Kuldeep sang Teri Deewani—Kailash Kher was so impressed by it that, when Annu Malek asked him to give his rendition, he didn’t hesitate to sing a duet with the overawed Kuldeep. What the viewers didn’t catch on TV was their electrifying performance on stage—both the singers matching each other note-for-note, pitch-for-pitch. It was truly awesome.
But not everything is rosy:
With the highs have to come the lows. And on Saturday, it was the eviction of not one but four girls at one shot. The tension had begun building the moment Hussain and Chang decided to play a prank on the girls. They called Purnima, Srijita, Priyanka and Bhavya on stage and made it sound as if Bhavya had to pack up and leave. The tension scaled a little higher when Annu announced that he had the envelope with the unlucky contestants’ names in it.
Soon it was time to open the envelope and, in one clean sweep, Purnima, Raina, Sunakshi and Pooja were declared out of the show. Tulika couldn’t believe that her roommate Purnima had to go home, and burst into tears—she was inconsolable for the rest of the show. The judges, too, were in shock—over Sunakshi’s eviction. They couldn’t believe that the Mast girl, whom they had lauded during the first piano round, had been felled by the viewers’ votes. They implored the audience to think really hard before they eliminated contestants with potential.
However, the entire show was not veiled with tears. The boys gave a commendable challenge to the girls’ performances on Friday.
Rajdeep hits a sixer:
Rajdeep Chatterjee began the innings with a well delivered Laaga chunari mein daag. Javed Akhtar felt his innings was flawless and effortless, almost like a smooth-flowing river. But Annu had a more interesting way of summing it up: “Cake lage, ice cream lage yum yum yum, mujhe aapke awaaz mein lage dum dum dum.”
Saurabh Mehta followed it up with an equally well appreciated Zindagi maut na ban jaye. Kailash said that his voice “has a filmi andaaz” and that he hopes the country votes for him and gets another great playback singer.
Charit’s Badi mushkil hain attracted kudos from all the judges (who liked it because it was rich with emotions and expressions) except Kailash—who wasn’t too impressed.
Frisbee fan Mohit’s great throw:
Mohit Lalwani took over the stage with the evergreen hit Ek haseena thi. HE had the audience on their feet and the judges clapping along. Kailash felt that he had loads of energy, while Annu said “ladke mein dum hain”. Javed and Sonali Bendre, however, felt that though Mohit’s voice throw was very good, there was still room for improvement.
Prasanjit Kosambi sang well but did not sing in the right octave that his song Dil hain ki maanta nahin deserved. While Javed advised him to choose the right octave, Annu made the boy sing it again in a higher octave—to prove what a difference it makes.
Keshav Prasad, however, failed to do justice to Tu hi tu satrangeele. Sonali felt that his singing was a tad too mechanical and Javed thought that the junoon and deewangi that the song deserved was missing in his rendition. But Annu, as usual, had the last word. He said that he was expecting so much from Keshav that his bad performance “broke my heart”. “You were not involved in the song,” said Annu. “Where was the sur? I am very disappointed.”
Rocking Roshan has a less than rocking show:
The boy from Kannur in Kerala tried his best with Tanhaee, but the judges were not too impressed. Both Kailash and Javed felt that he OK, though he lost his sur in the beginning. Annu exclaimed: “Teri awaaz mein narmi hain, garmi nahin.”
Parashar Joshi tried to get the tempo going with Yaa Ali. But he only managed to make Annu think that he was shouting and not singing. Javed advised him to better his pronunciation.
Ali Hussain managed to revive the boys’ flagging confidence by delivering a well-appreciated Piyare. While Kailash and Javed said that he sang well (though his voice needed a little more polishing), Sonali asked him to be wary of forgetting the lyrics. Annu’s verdict? “Teri aawaz ko sunkar mere dil ko aya hain chain.” Pranav Srivastava had everyone on their feet, dancing, with his Chal chaiya chaiya. Though Annu thought that he did go nasal at times, Javed was impressed because he did not try to copy Sukhwinder—but, instead, gave the song his own touch.
This is no army song:
Kapil Thapa, the army man who was inspired to join Indian Idol after Prashant Tamang won the title in 2007, drew on the audience’s heartstrings with his Dil kehraha hai. Sonali had only two words to describe his singing—“You rocked!” But Javed and Annu corrected him on his choice of octave. They encouraged him to experiment with his range and to constantly challenge himself.
Indian Idol’s ‘chhota Don’ was on next. Remo Ghosh from Nagaland tried his best with Yeh hawaein. Though his tender years and lack of experience shone through, his vivacious personality helped him evade harsh criticism. Javed warned him that a similar performance from an older boy would have been ripped to shreds. Annu asked him to promise him three things: that he would work harder, do more riaz, and do lots more masti!
And then came the song and the singer that floored the judges. The unassuming Sandeep Ubale came on stage and blew everyone away with his perfect rendition of Rim jhim gire saawan. Javed was so impressed, that for the first time on the show, he stood up and applauded the singer! Sonali said that Sandeep “transported” her, while Kailash said, “I see a very big star in you.”
Try, try, try and you will succeed:
No one knows this better than Bhanu Pratap. After auditioning for and being rejected from all three previous seasons of Indian idol, this Jaipur boy finally got his chance to sing on the piano round’s stage. His Pehli pehli bar baliye moved all the judges. Javed said, “Your voice has tremendous emotion and feeling. You have a heart that understands pain.” Annu was also impressed. He said, “It is not an easy song to sing, but you sang it very well. But you have to try harder still.”
And now the boys must wait to see what effect their singing had on the viewers—for next week they will be the ones on stage, not knowing which four will have to bid adieu to the Indian Idol stage.
Through the auditions Kailash was not just put to test for the vocal skills of contestants, but also had heard them repeatedly sing his own song. “In fact the Lucknow auditions of the show had not just one, but six people entering the room for audition at the same time and singing his song,” says our source.
