She has a positive vibe about her. But the infectious smile, the big bright eyes and her silken southern voice won’t be heard on the Indian Idol 9 platform anymore. Maalavika’s elimination was completely unexpected. As everyone wished her well for her future soon after the announcement the Chennai girl couldn’t hold her tears. Fondly called “Maalu” by her friends, Maalavika Sundar is surely going to be missed in the finale.  

The Making of Maalu

She was just a two year old toddler when Maalavika started singing MS Subbulakshmi’s Hanuman Chalisa and other classics that used to play in her family home. Her proud parents decided to train a two and a half year old Maalavika in classical music. At the age when some kids learn to speak coherently, she had started learning to sing!!!

About her journey, Maalavika said in a December 2016 interview, “My father had to move to Delhi when I was in the ninth grade. I refused to go with my family. By then my connection with my guru was at an emotional level, and I considered her my paati. So, I wanted to stay back in Chennai and pursue singing. After that, my gurukula vasam started”. She gives her guru Srimathi Padmavathi Ananthagopalan, younger sister of Lalgudi Jayaraman, full credit for where she has reached.

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During the show, Maalavika also revealed that her relations with her Guru had become strained due to some reason and what she really wanted was to connect and thank her Guru for everything.

Her prior experience and training in classical music reflected in her performances on Indian Idol. She has already sung over 200 songs for the South film industry, making her debut with the song Nuvvu nenu kalisunte for the film Gangotri. She had won the Nandi Award for the Best Playback Singer for the year 2005 – 2006. The Nandi Award is given for excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

She made her mark with her act in Vijay TV’s Airtel Super Singer 3, a Tamil song based reality TV show which premiered in 2010. Until her song ‘Dang Dang…’ for the movie Manam Kothi Paravai became a hit, Maalavika Sundar never thought she could sing film songs. “I was exposed only to classical music,” she says. “Only after I participated in the Super Singer programme, I learnt to sing a lot of film songs. I was made to sing different genres of Tamil music and got seasoned.” She said in an earlier interview.

In 2016, she decided to participate in Indian Idol to go beyond her comfort zone (read Tamil industry) and explore other cultures. She was inspired by Sonu Nigam saying, “Yeh manch nahin, rishta hai jo Bharat ko Bharat se jodta hai”. She wowed the judges in the audition round itself, where she got a straight entry to the theatre round.

Maalavika feels her training in classical music renders her an advantage in playback singing — “Because of my classical background, I understand the ragas on which a song is based.” All her performances have been top notch, starting with “Pal do Pal ka saath hamara” in the audition round to “Girls like to swing”. She has gone beyond the limitations of language to emerge as the fresh new find of Indian Idol, no matter she could not make it to the top three.

Sunil Grover has finally spoken out on the Kapil Sharma fight controversy and his message is loud and clear. Sunil has asked Kapil Sharma to “start respecting human beings also apart from animals.”

For the uninitiated, Kapil Sharma had ridiculed Chandan Prabhakar (Chaiwallah) during their trip to Melbourne and a heavily drunk Kapil also beat up Sunil in the flight back to Mumbai.

Although Kapil rubbished the fight in the flight, both Sunil and Chandan have refused turn up for the latest episode shoot for The Kapil Sharma show.

Kapil had also brushed off the duo’s differences on his Facebook account as well. The show host said that he loves his co-star Sunil as an artist and considers him as his elder brother.

But Sunil’s social media share now puts all rumours of the fight to rest as it says that he is deeply hurt with Kapil’s behaviour.

From a friend, with love @KapilSharmaK9 pic.twitter.com/2c7uQ5jqH5

— Sunil Grover (@WhoSunilGrover) 21 March 2017

“Bhai ji! Yes, You hurt me deeply. We with you has been a learning experience. Just one advice start respecting human beings also apart from animals. All are not as successful as you are. All are not as talented as you are. But if they all are talented like you, who will value you.

“So, have some gratitude towards their existence. And also, If someone is correcting you, dont abuse that person. Refrain from using foul language In front of women who had nothing to do with the stardom you carry, they are by chance just traveling with you,” were Sunil’s strong words.

He adds “thanks for making me realise it was your show and you have power to throw out anybody, anytime.” “You are the wittiest, and the best in your field. But dont act like a God. Take good care of yourself. Wish you lot more success and fame.”

As the show’s broadcasters Sony Entertainment Television sweat over the feud, there’s pressure on Kapil to clear the mess. So soon after Sunil’s tweets Kapil replied, “Paji @WhoSunilGrover sry if I hurt u unintentionally.u knw vry well how much I luv u. M also upset .love n regards always:)”

Paji @WhoSunilGrover sry if I hurt u unintentionally.u knw vry well how much I luv u. M also upset .love n regards always:) — KAPIL (@KapilSharmaK9) 20 March 2017

But truce seems highly unlikely this time, as both Sunil and Chandan didn’t turn up for the latest episode shoot with star cast of Naam Shabana. Surely this mess doesn’t look like settling down anytime soon.

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The controversial relationship between Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover has taken an ugly turn and looks like has hit a dead end. Sunil Grover is reportedly quitting his show and it looks like Kapil has bitten off more than he can chew this time.

Although talking to an entertainment portal, Kapil has rubbished the ‘flight fight’. He told Bollywood Life, “I don’t remember. Actually we fight on every flight…we fight everywhere…It is a healthy fight…We fight for work…We fight for good work.”

But according to reports, Kapil does not forget to remind his co-actors that he has given them a platform and they owe him their success. Kapil is also fond of his alcohol. The latest issue started when the team had gone to Australia to perform.

Kapil Sharma had a showdown with his friend Chandan Prabhakar, who plays a chaiwallah on the show. On the flight, Kapil had his fill of booze and then demanded to be served more. When the airline staff declined, he started abusing loudly. According to spotboyE , Sunil asked him not to use foul language in public. This angered Kapil even more and he started abusing and hitting Sunil. An ugly altercation followed. 

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The making of Sunil Grover

I met Sunil Grover in 2000 when he was my co-anchor for a game show on a Punjabi TV channel. He was just Sunil Grover then; he has since then gained name and fame as a comedian, whether it’s his SRK impersonations, Guthi or Dr Mashoor Gulati or even his latest avatar as Rinku Bhabhi.

He was good to work with. His talent, ambition and focus stood out. We were supposed to be co-hosting the show, but he easily overshadowed me with his spontaneity, presence and fluency. He was the star of the show not because of his looks or clothes but the way he carried the show on his shoulders and the way he interacted with the audiences.

The other thing that stood out about him even then was his keen observation and how he was able to mimic people on the set. I remember when we used to get stressed, he would do a Shah Rukh Khan takeoff and it was so effortless.  

There was no news of him for years after that. And then you caught him making an odd comic appearance on radio and TV. Soon he created a space for himself. He had no Godfather and struggled to get parts in movies like Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Insan, Ghajini. I guess the movies didn’t do much for his career.

I’m sure the journey from Punjab to the hub of Bollywood – Mumbai must have been a tough one.

Success took its time coming to him.

It also took a different route – he got celebrity status not as a hero but as a comedian. In fact it was his turn as Gutthi (on Comedy Nights with Kapil) that brought him nationwide fame and made him a household name. For a storehouse of talent that he is, it would not be easy playing second fiddle to someone who maybe has less class and more mass.

They have had their issues in the past. Sunil left the show to start his own show – Mad in India, which folded up without creating any waves. Sunil then rejoined Kapil’s team, which must have given Kapil’s ego a huge boost.

All I hear now after the flight fight, Sunil has had enough and finally has said goodbye to The Kapil Sharma Show. But you never know as they say never say never. But for all Sunil Grover fans, Kapil Sharma or no Kapil Sharma, he as Dr Mashoor Gulati alias Rinku Bhabhi alias Gutthi has carved a unique space in the television industry to sustain him a lifetime.

If your television set were to stop beaming entertainment one fine day or if someone decided to cut your TV cable connection, wouldn’t it be a disaster? I am one of the few people whose life would go on as usual as if nothing had happened/changed because the saas-bahu soaps don’t interest me and the shouting slanging match that goes on in the name of prime time News or Debate never got me interested.

I do though like to watch a couple of reality shows on telly. An occasional Koffee with Karan, with its potent mix of celebrities and living room gossip, is engaging. Catching a good movie doesn’t hurt either. The hidden singer in me also loves to follow the singing reality shows like Indian Idol. These days, I am heart and neck deep into the current season of Indian Idol, the song-based reality show on Sony TV, which has some exceptional singers.

For a music lover, it is heartening to hear this talented bunch of singers. Don’t know by design or chance, the show has singers from across the length and breadth of the country. Majority of the contestants have seen hardship in their lives before making it to the show. The list of contestants includes –

Indian Idol 9 Contestants with Rekha and Vishal Bharadwaj

• Khuda Baksh, a powerful singer from Punjab, who has seen rough days after the death of his qawwal father
• The Jagrata boy Mohit Chopra, another strong contender, who hails from Jahangirpuri, Delhi
• LV Revanth, who has already made his debut in playback singing with a song in Baahubali and has the looks and body language of a hero
• Maalavika Sundar, who has trained in a Gurukul since childhood opting to stay away from her parents to pursue sangeet ki sadhna (the end surely justifies the means)

• The whimsically talented PVSN Rohith (he stammers while speaking but his voice and flow is like honey and sugar when singing)
• Tejinder Singh from Faridabad who can sing in the voice of a girl as well as guy
• RP Shravan, the trained singer, from Tamil Nadu, who wowed the judges and the audience alike with his effortless and error free rendition of Ketaki Gulab ki, a 1960’s classic sung by Manna Dey & Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

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Hubby and I have been making sure to catch the weekend episodes for our fix of good singing. It was sad to see RP Shravan getting eliminated in one of the early rounds. The net result hubby refused to watch the next episode…it was then I knew that Shravan was his favourite.

Leaving aside this pain, the show definitely throws up talented singers. After the initial push, it depends on the persistence and sheer will of the singer to push the boundaries, struggle, continue to evolve and survive and then continue to shine in the industry.

The two golden rules for being successful and continuing to succeed are

• Never give up and continue to persevere and evolve
• Don’t let success go to your head

A good example is Arijit Singh, who did not give up even after losing in the TV show “Fame Gurukul”. For many days he did not get work as a singer. He chose to struggle; worked as an assistant music director till he got a chance to sing in Aashiqui 2 and the rest as they say is history. He was not a winner in the TV show where he participated; he continued to work on his talent and dream. His hard work and determination finally paid off and made him the Voice of the Modern day hero in the Hindi film industry.

Khuda Baksh, my favourite contestant, admitted that his initial success on the show had gone to his head. The result was a couple of insipid performances where he seemed out of place and failed to rise up to the bar that he himself had set up. It was a case of “too much too soon”, he said. To his credit he realized this and picked himself up. The result is that he is again back in form and hitting the right notes and the bull’s eye in his songs, connecting with the audiences and earning applause from the judges.

Winning the contest is not the end, rather participating is part of journey to showcase your talent and let the music directors/companies pick you. As Tejinder Singh, who was evicted last week said, “I’m leaving Indian Idol but I’m not leaving singing”. It is your attitude and actions that will ultimately define your success or failure. A contest like Indian Idol will have one winner as per its format. But all those who do not win the contest, you are not a failure till you decide to give up on your training and dream.

I’m sure we have not seen the last of RP Shravan. If he keeps at it, continues to practice and works hard at his skill, and is ready to struggle till he gets the right opportunities, it is only as matter of time before we will hear him singing – in our movies or on the radio or TV sets at home. Who knows!

Actor Kushal Tandon turned real life hero and saved his co-star Jennifer Winget from fire on the sets of their TV show Beyhadh. They were sitting in a mandap, which was set on fire for a scene. Things turned out of hand and Kushal, who was quick in response, removed Jennifer from the harm’s way. Both actors suffered minor burns.

 

It’s actually so cliche…… u save a girl from fire …. have always Watched and imagined as a scene ….. but it actually happened ….. the way I ran both the times … m laughing watching this wile m on my way back home … but was terrified that time …. don’t know what all was goin in my mind …. sad that Wat was the action directors safety … not a single action directors guy came to rescue that girl ….. Thanku God for giving me strength and the ability to think at that time to run and get her first Coz she jus froze … and the day ends … much love ❤to all

A video posted by Kushal Tandon (@therealkushaltandon) on Feb 7, 2017 at 8:20am PST

The actor wrote with the post that he had always seen it in films and imagined saving a girl from fire and this time ‘it actually happened’. He even said that not a single action director came to Jennifer’s rescue but thanked God for giving him enough strength to save her.

As part of the lead couple’s elaborate wedding on the show, a mandap was set on fire. Everyone stayed calm and did their part for the sequence at the beginning: The actor who played the priest left the mandap first (as per scene) but Jennifer sat inside the flaming set. Kushal came to her, performed his part but then realised that things were not right when a few ambers dropped on him. He quickly ran off the stage, dragging Jennifer’s drape with him. The overwhelmed Jennifer could not figure out how to get out and that’s when Kushal came back, picked her up and took her off the mandap.

Jennifer and Kushal play the leads on the popular show which tells the story of a psychopathic woman who is obsessed with a man.

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Once again it is the season of song-based reality shows. Indian Idol Season 9 is on air and my favourite Sonu Nigam is back as a judge. Shows like this and India’s Got Talent provide a platform to aspiring talent to make their mark in the industry.

Looking at the new bunch of talented singers, you actually wonder how the three recent golden voices of Indian cinema have all come through this reality show route. Arijit Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghosal are undoubtedly the reigning superstars of Bollywood music.

And I was tempted to trace their journey up the ladder. And thanks to YouTube, it is now possible to see what made the trio make it big.

Click below: Sunidhi Chauhan appearance as contestant in Meri Awaz Suno Mega Finals 1996

In the above video a fearless baby Sunidhi with short hair, dressed in a frock, effortlessly singing “Tu Chanda main Chaandni” from Reshma Aur Shera in the final round of Meri Awaz Suno way back in 1996.

It’s not easy to choose to sing a song originally sung by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar, that too in her presence. It could potentially destroy a singer for obvious reasons but Sunidhi gave a performance that gives me the goose bumps every time I see the video. Trust me I watched it multiple times.

Click below: Arijit Singh Eliminated from Fame Gurukul 2005

He is the voice of the Indian hero of the decade. The singing sensation of today’s generation Arijit Singh is also a product of Fame Gurukul. The video of 18 year old Arijit singing his heart out…singing ‘lagan lagi…’, only that he had been eliminated and yet gives a powerful performance. Not making it to the Top 5 must have steeled him to prove a point and how!

Shreya Ghoshal wins Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Championship 1996

Another product of song based reality show is the owner of that silken voice- Shreya Ghoshal. Watch Shreya singing “Jhumka Gira re” that mesmerised all. She catches all the harketein of the original song and reproduces them at will. Her flawless rendition wowed the judges as she won Zee Tv’s Sa re ga ma pa season and since then there’s no stopping her.

Reality of song-based reality shows

But for every Sunidhi Chauhan, winner of Meri Awaaz Suno , Shreya Ghoshal, winner of TVS Sa re ga ma and Arijit Singh, who failed to make it to Top 5 of Fame Gurukul, there are numerous others who despite their wins are no longer in the public memory. Many of them are not even in the music industry any more; few might have moved onto acting and hosting shows.

Monali Thakur, Bollywood singer/Ex-Indian Idol contestant

Meiyang Chang who came to the limelight in Indian Idol season 2 moved onto acting and even hosted the third season of Indian Idol. Qazi Taukeer who won Fame Gurukul in the season when Arijit lost is another example. He was last seen a shaking a leg in the song ‘Afghan Jalebi…’, from the movie Phantom, while the song was sung by Pakistani singer Syed Asrar Shah.

Stories of other singers like Monali Thakur, Neha Bhasin, Neha Kakkar are also inspiring for these young hopefuls. It’s a win-win situation for music directors too, many of who are judges on such reality shows. Why so? These singers are not as expensive as an established singer would be. Also music directors are not threatened by these newbies because even if the song is a hit, the music director ends up owning it rather than the new singers.

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For hundreds and thousands of talented Indians who dream of making it big, are outside the industry and have no Godfathers/mentors, these shows actually put that elusive thing- “success“ within their reach. The reality shows present one solid platform to singers from small towns to present their talent, e.g. Ariji Singh is from Murshidabad, West Bengal.

Such success stories bring hordes of people to the auditions and the amazing part is that these young aspirants line up for hours, even days to wait for their turn to get the ear of the judges. People travel across the length of the country in the hope that they will be spotted and picked by the judges first and national audiences later.

So you have singers from Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir who travel all the way to cities where the auditions are being held. In a strange city, where you do not have relatives or friends and you are not assured when your turn will come… sustaining yourself is only the first challenge.

Khuda Baksh, a singer from a tiny village in Punjab, part of the top 10 finalists in the current Indian Idol, is a case in point. Not from a well to do family (his mom works as a domestic help to run the household), he took refuge in a fellow contestant’s house the first night while waiting for his turn, the second night at the house of an Indian Idol crew member and the third day he slept in a bus when he told the bus conductor him that he had nowhere to go. Thankfully he finally got to sing the next day.

What these shows do is provide people a chance to showcase their talent. Most of the winners and runners-up are noticed and the platform provides them a foot in the door; but after that it is their persistence and drive, which sustains them on the road to success. It ultimately boils down to how you keep working hard and putting your best foot forward to find and create opportunities for success. Don’t let failures deter you. Dust yourself up and keep working towards your dream.

Before Arijit Singh got eliminated in Fame Gurukul, which had a twin criteria of viewer votes followed by votes of fellow contestants, he had said that he doesn’t want to stay in the competition if he doesn’t get the viewer votes. He had said,” I don’t know what the viewers are thinking, probably they are not with me”. Javed Akhtar, sitting on the panel of judges, had his to say to him,” You should always believe that you deserve to win. If someone thinks that you are not capable, then it’s their problem, not yours.”

“If you believe that you don’t deserve to win, there is very little chance that life will make you win. So always have confidence in yourself.” Eventually fellow judge Shankar played a big role in making Arijit Singh the Voice of India, a true Indian Idol.