Sawant wants 'Indian Idol' to focus on talent, not drama
What's the story
Abhijeet Sawant, the winner of the first season of Indian Idol, has lashed out at the singing reality show. He alleged that the show focuses on "fake" love stories between contestants and emphasizes on their economic status, rather than their singing talent. The allegations came after Kishore Kumar's son Amit Kumar, a guest on the current season, made some shocking revelations about the show.
Interview
He hailed the 'regional reality shows' for relying on talent
In an interview, the singer compared Indian Idol to other regional reality shows, which according to him, rely only on talent. Sawant said, "If you look at the regional reality shows, then the audience will hardly know about the background of the contestants. Their focus is only on singing, but in Hindi reality shows, the tragic and sad stories of contestants are redeemed."
Details
Sawant added the situation was different during his time
The Mohabbatein Lutaunga singer added that things weren't always like this. Citing a personal example, he said that once he had forgotten the lyrics while performing, and was simply asked to continue. But now, that'd be overly dramatized. Just recently host Aditya Narayan didn't hold back much when he revealed that a romance between two contestants was manufactured by the production team for TRPs.
Quote
'We cook up make-believe affairs, but you enjoy it no?'
"We're having fun. People say we cook up make-believe affairs on reality shows. So what? But you enjoy it no? We love to do it," Narayan said, bringing back the time when even he wasn't spared, and had to stage a romance with Neha Kakkar.
Controversy
The Kishore Kumar episode that started this conversation
To recall, Amit had made several allegations after he had appeared on the episode dedicated to his father. He said that he was disappointed with the level of singing, and "wanted to stop" the show. Amit added that he was asked to praise every contestant, irrespective of their singing abilities. Even, Kakkar and fellow judge Himesh Reshammiya were trolled online for their singing.
Reaction
And then Narayan took a dig at Amit
Taking a potshot at Amit's allegations, Narayan asked guests Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal and Roop Kumar Rathod in a recent episode that if they have been coerced to praise the performances. While Paudwal said, "I was surprised watching their performance," Sanu added, "They are really great singers and performed amazingly. All of them could pass off as playback singers right now."