Abhijeet Sawant calls out Indian Idol makers: ‘They are more interested if contestant can polish shoes or not’

After Kishore Kumar’s son Amit Kumar, Indian Idol season 1 winner Abhijeet Sawant has also criticised the show. Abhijeet said that increasingly, the makers are focussing more and more on the tragic backgrounds of the participants rather than their singing abilities.

Recently, the show raked in criticism online for their special Kishore Kumar episode. Amit told a leading daily that he was asked by the makers to praise the contestants even when he felt that they did not sing well.

Now, speaking to Aaj Tak, Abhijeet has said that the show is more interested in selling tragic stories rather than focussing on the music. “These days, the makers are more interested in whether the participant can polish shoes or how poor he is, rather than his talent. You should watch regional reality shows where viewers may not know anything about the background of their favourite contestants. Their focus is only on singing, but in Hindi reality shows, the tragic and sad stories of contestants are shown. The focus is only on that,” he said.

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Abhijeet added that the show is peddling fake love stories and drama but says that the public is also to be blamed. He said that during his stint on the singing reality show, he once forgot the lyrics to the song he was singing. “The judges decided among themselves that I should be given another chance. But I can tell you with confidence that had it happened today, it would have been served to the audience with full dramatic effects of thunder and shock. But the viewers are also responsible. Hindi language public is always hunting for more spice,” he said.

Abhijeet, however, did not agree with the singers getting trolled for the Kishore Kumar episode. He said that no one can compare against a ‘legendary’ singer like him and all that the participant can do is give him tribute to the best of their abilities.