The Winners Of Indian Idol: Where Are They Now?

India will get a new singing star tonight, as Season 9 of Indian Idol — a popular reality singing show on TV — comes to a close. Let’s see who out of the finalists, LN Revanth, PVNS Rohit and Khuda Baksh, bags the trophy at the grand finale on April 2.But before that, here’s looking back at the previous winners and the success and fame they garnered — from becoming playback singers to doing live shows, and more.

Season 1 winner — Abhijeet Sawant

The Season 1 winner (2005) went on to release an album, Aapka Abhijeet Sawant. Establishing himself as a Bollywood playback singer, he sang songs such as Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Tees Maar Khan, Ishq Wala Love, and the recent track Sau Tarah Ke in Dishoom.

Season 2 winner — Sandeep Acharya

Sandeep, who hailed from Bikaner, won the second season of Indian Idol in 2006 and went on to sing songs for Bollywood as well as Rajasthani movies. He, however, died of jaundice in 2013.

Season 3 winner — Prashant Tamang

Prashant, launched his first album, Dhanyavad (which had Hindi and Nepali songs) after winning Season 3. He has sung Nepali songs and did a music tour in the US. “Things changed for me after Indian Idol. My love for singing was recognised and I am very happy with that. I’m signing projects for playback singing and planning to start a singing institute,” he says.

Season 4 winner — Saurabhee Debbarma

Season 4 winner, she was also the first female winner of show. “I did live shows after winning Indian Idol. Life changed completely,” says Saurabhee, who recently got married to Kapil Thappa, a fellow contestant on the show. “I am now busy with live shows,” she says.

Season 5 winner — Sreeram Chandra

Sreeram became a playback singer for films such as Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (Subhanallah), Khiladi 786 (Balma) and more recently Raees (Zalima DJ mix). “I’m into acting as well and have done a couple of small projects as lead actor and signing another project. I’ve done a video which will be out soon,” says the Season 5 winner.

Season 6 winner — Vipul Mehta

He launched his single, Vande Matram, immediately after winning Season 6. He also sang Ishq Da Panga, and joined musical duo Salim and Sulaiman’s tour team and has been their lead singer for three years. “It’s been a thrilling experience. I met so many people... We do almost 60 concerts and individually I do about 20- 30 concerts,” says Vipul, who is recording songs with music composers such as Pritam, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.

Season 7 winner — Anjana Padmanabhan

After winning Season 7, which was also the first season of Indian Idol Junior, Bangalore-based Anjana is finishing school. She is studying in eighth grade. “Besides singing in Hindi and Kannada at live shows, I am also doing many live shows for Non Profit Organisations like CRY. My parents want me to finish my education first,” she shares.

Season 8 winner — Ananya Nanda

The winner of second Indian Idol Junior i.e. Season 8 of the reality show, Ananya, has done playback singing in films such as MS Dhoni: The Untold story (Padhenge Likhenge). “Right now I am preparing for my class 10th Board exams and plan to continue playback singing,” says Ananya, who has also signed up to sing in Oriya films.