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Friday
10 Feb: At the Kolkata airport when Vinit gets off the aircraft
from Mumbai thousands of fans surge forward chanting his name. They
throw flowers and thrust slips of paper into his face. Vinit looks
flummoxed, then pleased. Coincidentally, the two Fame Gurkul
winners Rooparekha and Qazi are also at the airport. There's minimal
interest in them.
Few hours later at City Centre, Salt Lake: Debojit and Vinit arrive
at the crowded hysterical venue for their live concert in Kolkota.
While Debojit looks around curiously and cautiously, Vinit is a
little bewildered when the girls and boys start shrieking.
"It isn't as though I'm not used to crowds by now. I've been
through enough live performances all over India ever since Sa
Re Ga Ma Pa happened to me. I do take to the audience immediately
and instinctively. But this is something else," Vinit whispers
as he gets on stage to sing Janaab-e-jaani with his mentor Himesh
Reshammiya.
When Debojit gets together with his mentor Ismail Durbar to render
Woh kisna hai, the audiences are enthusiastic in their response,
though not delirious.
 "Debojit
definitely has a fan following, and you can see he has fanatics
instead of fans," Sa Re Ga Ma producer Gajendra Singh
points out to large clusters of Debu-philes shouting his name, holding
up banners, insisting that he's the best.
Singh then points to the fans of the other finalist. "But Vinit
has fans who love him for what he is, and not where he comes from.
Vinit definitely has an edge."
Himesh Reshammiya actually gets on stage during the performance
to warn audiences not to get swayed by the contestant's place of
origin but to focus on talent.
****
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But
the crowds don't seem to need any prompting. They go berserk
for Vinit. Truck-loads of girls have arrived, many in school
uniforms. They scream Vinit's name as though their life
depended on it. Gifts are heaped on him from all sides.
One young woman catches hold of Vinit and kisses him. Vinit
looks shocked.
But the best it yet to come! A young woman comes forward
with a parcel. "This is something I've bought for you
with my first salary," she thrusts the offering to
Vinit. The star of the evening looks confused. He smiles
nervously.
 Half-way
through the performance, crowds break the barricade and
head towards the stage. Debojit looks pleased. Vinit looks
alarmed. The crowd heads towards Vinit and pushes him down.
Vinit falls and quickly picks himself up.
"Imagine a 17-year old boy from a small town, suddenly
faced with super-stardom. Imagine what it must be doing
to his head. Vinit needs to remain grounded," Gajendra
Singh whispers.
The show wraps up at 10 pm. Vinit seems stunned by the experience.
"I never thought such attention is possible. It's enough
to turn anyone's head. I'm going back with a bagful of gifts
from people I never knew!"
He shows a maturity way beyond his years when he confides.
"I'm worried about my voice. It hasn't yet changed
with puberty. And it's being put under so much strain. I'm
guarding it as best as I can. But yes, I feel the strains
of puberty in my vocal chords."
When you tell him that the attention he got in Kolkata was
much larger than his competitor, Vinit smiles shyly. "I'll
have to agree with you. Now let's see what happens in Delhi
tomorrow."
****
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Sunday
12 Feb: The venue was the Ansal Plaza in Delhi. A crowd of about
20,000 fans thronged the venue chanting Vinit's name.
The evening was meant to be a concert to spotlight the two Sa
Re Ga Ma Pa finalists Debojit and Vinit. But, it turned out
to be an impromptu platform for the ousted contestant Himani Kapoor
to shine. Himani was suddenly brought on at the fag-end of the
show at 9:45 pm, fifteen minutes before closing time. The crowds
went berserk.
Apparently Himani got more appreciation for her 15-minute appearance
than what the others received for the rest of the show. "I
wouldn't like to say that," says Himani. "But it was
all unexpected. I'm glad they decided to include me in the concert.
I never thought it would turn out the way it did. I had time to
perform only one number Sajna ve (from Chameli). I'd have preferred
to sing something dreamier. But going by the concert's mood, I
guess the tempo was timely. It caught on."
****
 Himesh
Reshammiya has already decided to make Himani sing three forthcoming
songs. The composer is also all set to take Vinit and Himani on
a world concerts including one in Dubai in a month's time.
Himani is in a calm daze. "It's all happening so fast and
so suddenly. I don't feel I've been ousted from Sa Re Ga Ma.
In fact, everyone seems to be more responsive to me than ever
before. The Delhi concert was an eye-opener. And, I'll have to
reluctantly admit that the response I got in ten minutes was unequalled
by anything else."
According to Gajendra Singh, "We had no prior plans of bringing
on Himani. The concert was meant to promote the two finalists.
But our last-minute decision paid off. In her brief appearance,
Himani had the crowds hysterical. They mobbed both Vinit and Himani
for autographs. Not only that, we had hundreds of fans waiting
for them at Park Plaza where we proceeded for dinner. So it was
evident their popularity has gone far beyond the stage."
 So
impressed is the Sa Re Ga Ma organizers by the response
to Himani's performance that there are sudden plans afoot to bring
her back into the show.
"I must admit, Himani's ouster was a mistake," admits
Gajendra Singh. "The voting pattern was definitely not foolproof.
And we plan to take concrete steps to rectify the wrong done.
Contestants like Nihira and Himani should not have been eliminated."
****
The
grand finals of Indian Idol are a couple of weeks from
now. Super-celebs from Bollywood are being wooed into the show
to wow audiences and contestants.
Afer Amisha Patel who has just recorded a Valentine's Day special,
it's Preity Zinta who's expected to be on Indian Idol next week.
Karan Johar has also agreed to be on the show.
The idea is to flood the show with celebrities and wean viewers
away from Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. But the rival show isn't
exactly sitting on its laurels. Sa Re Ga Ma has plenty
of showbiz celebs lined up.
"But we aren't into impressing audiences with film stars.
My focus is more on getting people who know about music, like
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Subhash Ghai , Priyanka Chopra and Tabu.
We hope to get Salman Khan back on the show. He was a raging hit
when he came, and he loves music" says Gajendra Singh.
On Indian Idol, Amisha Patel made quite an impression on
the contestants Karunya, Antara , Panna and Ameya. Each sang a
romantic song. Antara crooned Zara zara from Rehna Hai Terre
Dil Mein and Panna crooned the title song from Agar Tum No
Hote. Amisha told the latter that he reminded her of Saif Ali
Khan.
And after Karunya sang the title track from Hum Tum Amisha
quipped, "You resemble Abhishek. Hope you find the same popularity."
Wonder how healthy it is for these aspiring singers to be compared
with Bollywood stars!
 On
Friday, Deal Ya No Deal anchor Mandira Bedi cancelled the
shooting of the Valentine special featuring Iqbal Khan-Neha Bamb
, Shakti Anand-Kanchi Kaul hours before the recording. The reason
given was an infected throat.
One person who was happy by this unexpected holiday was Iqbal.
"It was my birthday and I got sudden time for myself and
my family. I guess it all worked out for the best"
While the Valentine special has now been postponed, Mandira has
quickly recovered to take Deal Ya No Deal to another celebrity
level with real-life siblings Farah and Sajid Khan who come together
for the game show.
The episode featuring the irrepressible Khan siblings was recorded
on Sunday. Farah seemed quite tickled by the idea of doing a deal
with her brother. "It should be fun. Let's hope we win some
money."
****
Himesh
Reshammiya's pic from: Indiafm.com
(The views
expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com
need not necessarily subscribe to the same)
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