On 23 February, season 11 of Indian Idol came to a conclusion with Sunny Hindustani being declared as the winner. He took home a prize money of Rs 25 lakhs, a car and a music contract with T-Series. Indian Idol is one of India’s most popular reality singing television shows.
Sunny was also congratulated by the Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing, MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Shiromani Akali Dal. Sunny hails from Bathinda in Punjab, which happens to be Badal’s constituency.
Badal tweeted, “Heartiest congratulations #SunnyHindustani on your hard-earned win. You made us all proud. Journey of this melodious #IndianIdol season 11 winner Bathinda boy is an inspiration to many. Wishing him all the success ahead.”
During the finals, Sunny performed Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Momina Mustashen’s ‘Afreen Afreen’ to move into the next round of auditions, this earned him a standing ovation from the panel of judges.
He also shared that he earns his livelihood by working as a shoe-shiner and that his mother made a living working as a balloon seller.
Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee were awarded the first and second runner-up positions respectively and received Rs 5 lakh each. Ridham Kalyan won the fourth position and Adriz Ghosh was declared fifth on the show; they were awarded Rs 3 lakh each. In addition to the Lotus Herbals gift hampers from the sponsors, a cheque of Rs 1 Lakh was doled out for every contestant who made it as a finalist.
Sunny’s popularity catapulted and reached a wider audience when his audition clip was retweeted by businessman Anand Mahindra. Mahindra had tweeted the video with a heartwarming caption that read, “Diwali is the perfect day to learn about people who Rise. A friend sent me this saying he was in tears watching it. Find the whole clip on YouTube & I challenge you to remain dry-eyed. TV & social media have done us a great service: Discovering talent in the humblest locations.”
Vishal Dadlani later invited the business tycoon to have a chat with the kids. He said that “They have the potential to inspire kids in every corner and every economic level in India.”
