Hindi Tv Show Indian Idol Season 1 - Cast & Crew

Priyanaka Venkateshwaran is a girl who dared to sacrifice all that was glorious and glamorous, to reach the stars in her own way, in her own time. She is 17 years old. According to the judges, she was a 'pack contract' who was claiming the Indian Idol title but she rather chose to give up everything, the name, the fame and the status of the celebrity she came up with, in order to pursue her education. Priyanka participated in the Star Plus' Kya Masti Kya Dhoom and Kuchh Kar Dikhana Hai, won both, and then took the Indian Idol from Sony as her next challenge.

Catherine Roseanne Dennis is a singer, songwriter, record producer cum actress from Great Britain. She is an expert in pop, house, and dance genres. Dennis received her education from Taverham High School. In 1986, at the age of 17, Simon Fuller signed her to his management firm and the label Polydor, launching a long relationship with the impresario that saw Catherine writing songs for many of Fuller's projects.

Aditi Paul was born to a highly educated Bengali family in Santiniketan, Kolkata on 1 August 1979. Her real name is Aditi Paul Majumder. She did her Masters in English literature from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s Vishwa Bharati University in Shantiniketan, West Bengal. Her parents were able to notice her thirst and passion for singing from the age when she was a little girl. It was her mother who made her entry into the singing world. This playback singer’s main inspirations were her aunt and Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty. Growing up, she started her formal training under the guidance of Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty.

Farah Khan is an Indian film actress, producer, director and a choreographer. She was born on January 9, 1965 in Mumbai, India. She is the daughter of Menaka, sister of screenwriter and actress, Honey Irani and Daisy Irani. She is also the sister of film actor and comedian Sajid Khan and the cousin of film personalities Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar. Farah was married to Shirish Kunder, a film writer, producer, director, composer and the editor of her directorial film Main Hoon Na in 2004. The two have worked together in films like Jaan-E-Mann, Tees Maar Khan and Om Shanti Om. She gave birth to triplets, composing of one boy and two girls in year 2008. 

She studied Sociology in Mumbai’s St. Xavier College. During this time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was being telecasted. Farah, though she had not tried dancing before, got inspired and became her vocation. Basically, she just learned how to dance by herself and started her own dance group. She took over to choreographer Saroj Khan, when he walked out of the sports drama film, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar in 1992. After this, she started to choreographed dance routines for more than 100 songs in several Hindi films. Farah has worked in international projects like the 2007 romantic musical comedy film, Marigold: An Adventure in India, the 2001 film Monsoon Wedding and the 2005 Chinese film, Perhaps Love. Her choreography in Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair and Bombay Dreams gained her nominations at the Tony Awards as Best Choreographer in 2004. She already won five times at the Filmfare Awards for the same category. In year 2012, Farah has choreographed the songs Radha and Ishq Wala Love for the film Student of the Year and Jumping Jhapak in 2013. 

Farah is a good friend of Shah Rukh Khan, whom she met during the set of the 1994 Bollywood film Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and since then, they started to work together in several projects. Farah, soon became a director as well and her first film Main Hoon Na stars Shah Rukh Khan, produced under the banner of Red Chillies Entertainment. She was the first female director to be nominated at the Filmfare for Best Director. Her second film, Om Shanti Om also stars Shah Rukh Khan and the debutant actress, Deepika Padukone. This film became a top grosser of all time after it was released. In 2010, her third directorial venture Tees Maar Khan stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. She made her acting debut inn year 2012 after doing the lead role in Bela Bhansali Sehgal’s Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi. 

She also trained the famous Columbian pop star Shakira for her song Hips Don’t Lie, Bollywood version, for MTV Music Video Awards in 2006 and Kylie Minogue in Chiggy Wiggy for Anthony D’Souza’s Blue in 2009. In the same year, she hosted the celebrity chat show entitled Tere Mere Beach Mein, which was aired on Star Plus. She also judged reality television shows like the first and second seasons of Indian Idol, Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star, Dance India Dance Li’l Masters and Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. In 2011, Farah, along with Hrithik Roshan and Vaibhavi Merchant judged the dance reality series Just Dance on Star Plus. She also hosted the special series of the reality show Bigg Boss Halla Bol in 2013. 

In honor of Farah’s triplets, she and her husband started the Three’s Company, a production house in India.

Born in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, Prajakta was leading a regular student life in Jabalpur. She was in the 12th standard studying science. But luck had something else in store for her.

She participated in Indian Idol 1 and finished at 4th place. Prajakta was 19 years old when she launched her first album Dhakka. It was released by Sony BMG with Leslie Lewis as music composer. This album is a fusion of Marathi and Hindi songs. Abhijeet Sawant and Rahul Vaidya, her co -contestants from Indian Idol also sung a few songs for this album. Likewise Prajakta has also sung some songs for Abhijeet Sawant’s first album called Aapka Abhijeet Sawant.

Season 5 of Sony’s Indian Idol show saw Prajakta as host till audition levels along with Abhijeet. She was replaced by Hussain after the auditions were over. She has given playbacks in movies such as Shaadi No.1, Jaan-e-Man and in serial Kaajal. Other than this, Prajakta has sung songs for several regional movies and has done lots of stage shows. She idolizes Lata mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Mohd.Rafi. From the younger brigade she admires Sonu Nigam, Shaan and Shankar Mahadevan. Prajakta looks upto Sukhwinder, Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal.

Prajakta performed at the Star Parivaar Awards, 2008 along with Rahul Vaidya and Vinit Singh, all being called The Challengers versus Rooprekha Bannerjee, Ishmeet Singh and Abhijeet who were The Champions, based on the theme of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar.

Amazingly, all does not always go well in life. Prajakta and Abhijeet were booked in a rash driving case on December 1, 2010. It was a case of a night out with friends gone all wrong. Shukre and Abhijeet were on their way back from a party held at a Juhu restaurant, in different cars. Somewhere near Santa Cruz, they decided to race their cars and that’s when Prajakta banged into two teenagers on a motorcycle, injuring them badly.

On March 9th, 2011 Prajakta entered into wedlock and continues to render lovely songs in her melodious voice.

Ankita Sharma is a famous Indian actress. She has been born and brought up in Delhi. Before entering into the acting career, she worked for Infosys Technology Solutions in Pune and shifted to Jaipur. She learned classical dance and Music in Delhi and received Visharad degree. She likes to become a choreographer. Also, she would like to open a dance institute to show up her talent in both dance and music. She never expected that she will become an actress. She got a call from the Sagar Pictures for "Alah Udhal" movie, which is related to 2 warriors in the early years Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. She acted as a co-star in that. Their family moved to Mumbai for an acting career. Luckily she became an actress without trying anything. 

One of the finalists in the Indian Idol season 1, Harish Moyal has starred in numerous television shows and won the 2011 IMA award. His first Bollywood song was Bahane Zindagi Ne from the film M.A Pass. He has recreated 2 songs for both Dil Ko which he re-uploaded with the collaboration of Ramji Gulati and Isharon Isharon Mein Sa Re Ga Ma and Sukoon Mila cover at Zee music company which gave him over a million views and support. Apart from the covers Harish has appeared and sung in the song Girgit Vang collaborating with Ramji Gulati of the music company Zee, and has his own songs such as Kahin Door, Zindagi, Aasra & Dil Maane Na composed, sung and directed. He has been featured in over 2500 shows and is constantly on the lookout for his audience. Today, Moyal stands out as one of the most talented musicians in the Indian live music industry.

Vishal Kothari grew up in a business class family and had no musical background. From childhood, he had an interest in music, which was seen since he was growing up. He received his training in music under the guidance of Dr Ram Deshpandeji.
 
 His musical career began with a stint in ZEE TV’s super hit show SA RE GA MA PA. There he bagged prizes for six consecutive shows which was a great achievement for him. He received a lot of appreciation. He won many collegiate and intercollegiate shows at state and national levels which helped him to get recognition in the country.

Julian Gingell is a British songwriter and song producer. He was born on 29 December 1969. Gingell shifted to London to work with Stock Aitken Waterman (English songwriting trio). After the Stock Aitken Waterman disbanded, Gingell worked with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken as they continued as a duo. In 1999, he started his production with his friend Barry Stone. The company was named Jewels and Stone. Gingell and Barry together remixed many songs like Murder on the Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s, No Matter What by Boyzone, Don’s Stop Movin’ by S Club 7, I Breathe Again by Adam Rickitt, I Said Never Again by Rachel Stevens. The duo also worked with HearSay and Five. They also created the theme music for the TV Talent Show, Pop Idol, and American Idol.

Mukesh Pancholi is an Indian musical artist / Hindi / Bollywood singer known for “Yaad Ayenge Yeh Pal (2004),” “Khwaja Ji Ajmer Nagar (2007),” and “Lach Lach Lachke (2009).” In 2004, he worked for the song ‘Ni Sultana’ from the album Indian Idol which is released on Spotify, Hungama, Tik Tok, and Youtube. Later in 2007, he worked on the song ‘Dare Khwaja Piya Pe’ from the album ‘Khawaza Ki Chadar,’ later released on Wynk, Gaana, JioSaavn, Hungama, and Youtube.

Ravinder Ravi belongs to Ludhiana, Punjab He was born on 1st January. He is currently a resident of New Delhi, India. He was a contestant of Indian Idol Season 1 (2005), which was judged by Anu Malik, Farah Khan, and Sonu Nigam. Ravinder got eliminated from the top 5 contestants. Ravinder is married and is a father of three children.

Vishal Mull is an Indian director who worked for the Hindi film industry. He worked in many Hindi shows as a director and as well as a producer. Some of his famous works as a director includes Love Bytes and as a producer includes Dil Ki Suno Stories, The Heartbreak Hotel, and Naach Na Shaane. Love Bytes was a drama-romantic TV series that includes Manish Goel, Shweta Gulati, and Kushal Punjabi as the lead actors.

Aman Verma was born on 11th October 1971. He was born and bought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. His family consists of his father, Yatan Kumar Verma, who works in the Indian Army, and her sister Gowrie. He was married to Vandana Lalwani on December 14, 2016. He has done MBA in Finance and Diploma in Journalism. Aman works as an Actor and an Anchor in the Indian Film Industry, predominantly in Bollywood. Aman Verma became famous after being selected as an anchor for the popular singing reality show Indian Idol Season 1. He has also been a part of many TV Shows and Movies. Some of them are ‘Sangharsh’ released in 1999, ‘Jaani Dushman- EK Anokhi Kahaani’ in 2002, ‘Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye’ in 2003, ‘Dosti: Friends Forever in 2005, ‘Tees Maar Khan’ in 2010, ‘Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behana Hai’ in 2012, ‘Big Boss 9’ in 2015, ‘Savdhaan India’ in 2017, ‘Bhuj: The Pride of India’ in 2020 and many more. He has also received various awards for his role in different TV Serials.

Nikhil J Alva was born on November 9, 1969, in Bangalore. He was the chairman of Alva Brothers Pvt Ltd and executive director-cum-founder of Miditech Pvt Ltd. Having completed his BA degree in New Delhi at St Stephen’s college, he joined his elder brother Niret Alva to take forward the company Real Global Broadcasting to a new level.

Niret Alva, an anchor-producer of the television industry, was born in Bangalore in 1965 to Niranjan and Margaret Alva (both lawyers). Following his mother’s election to the Rajya Sabha, he moved to Delhi in 1974. He possesses a bachelor’s degree in History from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi University) and a post-graduate diploma in Journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Further, he went to Holland to pursue a television course in News and Current Affairs from the Radio Netherlands Training Centre in Hilversum.

Anu Malik is considered as one of the most famous and successful music directors from film industry. He has also established his name as a singer. He began his career as a music director in 1977. He gave the music for the film Hunterwali. He became famous in 1990s by delivering the blockbusters like Baazigar,Janam and so on. We can say 1990 to 2000s was the golden period of his career. He was awarded a National Award for his phenomenal music for the film Refugee. His other blockbusters were Shah Rukh Khan starrer Mai Hoon Na and Baazigar . This movie gave him a Filmfare Award of Best Music Director. He has made a record of winning this trophy for 6 times. Anu Malik has given his versatile music for more than 350 films. He is considered as the most promising music director from the industry. So his songs like Garam Chaye Ki Pyali, Mehbooba Mehbooba, Gori Gori are some of the most famous songs from his compositions. He has also successfully played the role of a judge in the reality show Indian Idol. And has also made a presence in many T.V. shows. Anu Malik has successfully tried many gener in his compositions from a soulful love song to a dance number. He has different style of composition.

Sonu Nigam is a renowned Bollywood singer and composer. He was born on July 30, 1973 in Faridabad, Haryana. Hailing from a musical background, both his parents are singers. He is the son of singer Agam Kumar Nigam. The first performance he gave was at the tender age of 3 when he performed the song Kya Hua Tera Wada by Mohammed Rafi. Besides singing Hindi songs he has recorded songs in Kannada, Assamese, Oriya, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, Nepali and Marathi languages. He is amongst the top Playback singers in Bollywood and has also released a few individual pop albums. Nigam moved to Mumbai at the age of 19, to start a career in Bollywood as a singer. He is the prodigy of famous Hindustani classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. Though he started his career by covering songs of Mohammed Rafi under the T-Series record label owned by Gulshan Kumar, his first break came in 1990 when he did playback singing in the movie called Janam. In 1995 he started hosting the popular musical TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, after which he delivered the famous single Acha Sila Diya Tune for the film Bewafa Sanam. Some of his famous tracks are Sandese Aate Hai from the movie Border (1997), Ye Dil Deewana from the movie Pardes (1997). In 1999 he released his debut album Deewana, he also sang the title track for the movie Kal Ho Na Ho. As an individual composer he has worked on movies like Singh Saab The Great, Sooper Se Ooper and Jal. Nigam has contributed in Britney Spears track I Wanna Go, and has also released a track in the album The Beat of Our Hearts as a tribute to Michael Jacskon. In his small acting career he has acted in films like Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahaani, Love In Nepal and Kaash Aap Humaare Hote. Nigam is married to Madhurima and also had a son named Neevan.

Rahul Saxena is an Indian playback singer, who became popular after joining the first season of the singing reality show, Indian Idol in 2004. Though he didn’t win the title, he reached the top 7. The Indian Idol judges, and renowned director, Farah Khan, offered him opportunity to sing in the fantasy romantic thriller comedy film, Om Shanti Om in 2007. He crooned the song Deewangi Deewangi that became popular during that time. Before joining Indian Idol, Rahul also participated and became the winner in the Children’s Special of Sa Re Ga Ma in the year 1993 and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Golden Voice Hunt in 1994. In 2009, he joined and became a runner-up on Zee TV Marathi’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Mahasangram in 2010. Rahul had started his career as a chorus singer before he explored deeply into the world of music.

Sandeep Acharya was born on February 4, 1984. He is an Indian singer. He was born in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Owing to his singing skills, Acharya decided to contest for Indian Idol Season 2. Fortunately he was selected and even ended up winning the show in 2006. Thus, Acharya became the famous face of the country. His win got him ten million rupees from Sony BMG, a music album contract and a brand new Maruti Baleno car.

Sandeep Acharya appeared in the show “Jalwa Four 2 Ka 1” on the channel 9XM in 2008. It was an Indian television reality dance show. Acharya was the head of the singing team. He was the runner up in the show Golden Voice of India. He also performed in a three day event in London at the Asian Life Style Show with numerous actors and performers.

Sandeep won the award for the Best New Bollywood Talent in New Jersey, USA. His other awards include Sur Aradhna Award in Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium in the best upcoming male singer category. His most famous album “Mere Saath Saara Jahaan” released on June 2, 2006. This album has attained great popularity and has become everyone’s favourite.

Unfortunately, sudden jaundice caused him demise on December 15, 2013. Though his presence is no more, his songs will continue to mark his talent.

Rahul Vaidya is a prominent Indian singer turned actor. He was born on September 23, 1987 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. He came from a family with musical background. Initially, he didn’t want to be a singer. They moved to Mumbai from Nagpur and one day, he sang for the Ganpati Festival and a friend gave him the address of Suresh Wadkar’s Institue. When Suresh heard him singing, he told his parents that Rahul should take music lessons and he studied for six long years. Since then, he took his singing career seriously. He studied at Hansraj Moraji School and later attended Mithibai College in Mumbai. Rahul used to joined several talent contest when he was a child and during his teenage years, he joined the Aao Jhoomein Gaayein.

He rose to fame after winning the 2nd place in the first season of the singing reality show, Indian Idol. 8-months later, his first album, Tera Intezar was launched. Hindi music composer, Sajid-Wajid is the composer of the songs on his debut album. Rahul also made a duet with his runner-up in Indian Idol, Prajakta Shukre and they sang, Hello Madam, I am Your Adam. He also sang God Promise Dil Dola with Indian playback singer, Shreya Ghoshal for the comedy film, Shaadi No. 1. He also sang for the Hindi serial, Ek Ladki Anjaani Si on Sony Entertainment Television. Rahul also performed in concerts and live shows abroad. In 2007, he hosted the musical reality show, Jjhoom India on Sahara One. He also sang for films like Jigyaasa, Krazzy 4 and Hot Money. In 2008, he won the Superstar of India title in the reality show, Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star on Star Plus. He also joined and won in another reality show on Star Plus entitled, Music Ka Maha Muqqabla. Rahul also anchored the dance competition show, Aajaa Mahi Way, along with Vinit Singh on Star Plus channel. In 2010, he replaces Falguni Pathak and made a performance for the Navatri Special in the popular Sankalp Dansiya in Mumbai. Rahul also sang the unplugged version of Be Intehaan in the Bollywood action thriller film, Race 2. His single entitled, Fan with the popular, Badshah was released in 2014. This gained one Lakh views on YouTube in just two days. He also pays a tribute to his country for the 67 years of Independence with his song, Vande Mataram. He also sang What the FARK along with Amit Mishra and Aditi Singh Sharma in the 2014 romantic comedy film, Amit Sahni Ki List.

Rahul already donned over 1,200 shows and became one of the most successful Indian performer.

Prashant Tamang is a popular singer turned actor and the winner on the third season of the reality singing competition show, Indian Idol in year 2007. He was born on January 4, 1983 in Darjeeling, West Bengal to Rupa and Madan Tamang who both came from the Nepali lineage. He spent his early life in Himalayan, Darjeeling and attended St. Robert’s School. When his father dies in an accident, he stopped attending school and joined the Kolkata Police. He usually sings for the police orchestra in Kolkata Police. He got married to Geeta Thata, an air hostess on February 2011 in Nagaland, India.

Prashant took the audition for the 3rd season of the Indian Idol because his friends, officers and Mr. Zulfiqar Hasan of Special Additional Commissioner of Police told him that he has a good voice. When he auditioned for the Indian Idol in Kolkata, he received mix remarks from the juries and he was selected for the next round. Prashant was the only contestant who has never been place in the bottom of the gala round. He was on the top two along with his contender, Amit Paul but in the end, he received a total of 70-million votes and won the Indian Idol Season 3. This makes him the first Indian police force to joined the Indian Idol and made it to the final rounds.

After joining the Indian Idol, he instantly became a celebrity in Nepal, West Bengal, Sikkim and Darjeeling. People from those places mostly voted for Prashant and even the mayor of Mirik spent Rs. 10,000 just to vote for him. The mayor’s staff also spent their monthly salary for his win. There are also rallies formed in Darjeeling to support him and radio station in Pokhara made a campaign so they can collect donations to vote for Prashant; they have collected a total of Rs. 27,000. Newspaper, schools, clubs and some organizations also helped him in winning and he was named as Pahad Ko Gaurav or Pride of the Hills. Other people that support him are P.S. Golay (Sikkim’s Minister of Sports and Youth), officials of Kolkata Police headed by Zulfiqar Hasan, Bimal Gurung of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, and many more.

After Indian Idol 3, he launched his first album, Dhanyavad in 2007, which consists of Hindi and Nepali songs. He toured around the world and performed in concerts. His second album, Namaste was launched in 2008. Prashant also sang for the Nepali film, Himmrat 2 together with some of her co-Indian Idol contestant. In year 2009, he venture into acting and was debuted in the box-office film, Gorkha Paltan in 2010. Subsequently, he did his second film, Angalo Yo Maya Ko and his third film entitled, Kina Maya Ma. His most recent film, Nishani is still under production.

Amit Tandon is Indian Television actor and singer he had participated in the first season of Indian reality show Indian Idol, but he was the second contestant to get eliminated from the contest. He has also been a VJ for few of the reality shows. He then released his own Album Tanha Lonely Heart on Tips. After he had been eliminated from Indian Idol, he was seen in as Television Actor. He was seen as Prithvi in Ekta Kapoor's Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai with Iqbal Khan and Neha Bamb.

Aman Yatan Verma was born on October 11, 1971. His career is extensive both as an Indian actor and a TV anchor. Being the host of the famed game show, Khullja Sim Sim on Star Plus from the years 2001 to 2004 as well as co-hosting the first season of Indian Idol on Sony TV, Aman has maintained his famous image with the public. He is known as a charming host who gladdens viewers and lands himself appearances in many anchor roles on several films and serials. 

A very talented singer born in Bhilai, he is very well known for his Hindi songs. He first appeared in Indian Idol, which is a talent hunt of singers and being broadcasted in Sony TV. He is also the runner-up of the first season of Indian Idol. Even though initially he was classical singer later on after joining Indian Idol he learned modern songs as well. And before coming into Indian Idol, he was doing his Engineering in Information Technology and Management. He has also been seen in few on stage dance programs. Along with the Indian Idol season one winner Abhijeet he has sung in the album named Aapka Abhijeet Sawant.

Abhijeet Sawant is an Indian Hindi singer, actor and anchor. He was born on 7th October, 1981, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Abhijeet Sawant is also the winner of the first season of Indian Idol.

Hussain Kuwajerwala is one of the most recognizable faces in Indian Television industry. Simply known as Hussain, he is an actor, dancer and an anchor with considerable body of work. Born 12 October 1997, Hussain started his career with modelling campaigns and commercials. However, he soon broke into the television industry with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahoo Thi. This Indian series turned out to be a massive hit and Hussain's career took off after it. Subsequently, he appeared in several popular television serials like Hum Paanch, Rishtey, Aashirwad, Sarhadein, Kanyadaan, Kangan, Krishna Arjun and Yeh Hai Jalwa.

Hussain's another popular role was the portrayal of Sumit Wadhwa in the television serial Kumkum. Besides television serials, Hussain is also a popular TV Show host. He has hosted several instalments of the reality show Indian Idol. Besides Indian Idol, he has hosted shows like Kisme Kitna Hai Dum, Kuch Kar Dikhana Hai, Khulja Sim Sim, Kalakarz, the third season of Nach Baliye, Shabaash India and Dance Premier League among others. He has also starred in movies Shree and Mafia. 

Hussain Kuwajerwala was awarded with 2007 Style Icon of the Year in the Indian Telly Award and the Best Anchor award for Shabaash India in 2007 by Star Gold Awards.