Reality television show ‘Indian Idol’ has been known for introducing new, raw talent to the musical industry. The show has been a stepping stone for many singers like Neha Kakkar, Antra Mitra and Monali Thakur. However, as per former aspiring Indian Idol contestant the show demands more than just musical talent.
Nishant Kaushik— the former aspiring contestant had cleared the third-round auditions of Indian Idol season 6 back in 2012. And now Nishant has uncovered the harsh reality of the reality singing show though a series of tweets.
Letting his followers know that he is not going to sugar coat anything, Nishant began his Twitter rant by stating that Indian Idol is everything that it does not advertise.
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“I think it is a perfect platform to destroy your dreams as opposed to its common perception as a breeding ground for talent.”
Brief, nonchalant thread about my auditioning experience at Indian Idol 2012 and why I think it is a perfect platform to destroy your dreams as opposed to its common perception as a breeding ground for talent.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
Nishant narrated his tale be stating that he arrived at the audition’s venue at 7 a.m, whereas the gates open at 1 p.m. Where as majority had camped out overnight. Participants had no access to toilets or drinking water or food stalls. If they stepped out of the line for any of those reasons they would risk losing their place in the line.
I joined the queue at 7 AM. There were people who had arrived at 5 AM. Others who had camped overnight. False notion that early arrival = early audition. No one from the crew to dispel such notions. Gate opens 1 PM.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
The participants were given lines to speak in front of the camera when their own genuine responses were not ‘meaty’ enough for the show. The directors would demand dozens of retakes and if the participants refused— assistant directors would abuse and threaten them with the promise of taking their names off the auditions’ list.
Sure enough, one aspirant fell to the bait. Fell at Shriram's feet. Dozens of retakes demanded by the director. When the aspirant said he couldn't do any more retakes, assistants on the set abused him and threatened to have him off the auditions if he didn't comply. He complied.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
These staged gimmicks went on till 5 pm. By this time, we had noticed that for a venue as large as a school and for a crowd in tens of thousands, the provisions were: 1 canister of water with a steel glass bang in the middle of the ground, and 1 toilet.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
Nishant wrote about one instance where a participant asked one of the assistants when the auditions would begin and he was slapped for asking a question in front of thousands of other participants.
Finally talking about the auditions, Nishant said how judges make a fool of the naïve participants on the camera for a good laugh. So much so that many participants come out with teary eyes while many pass out due to undue pressure.
As soon as the tweets went viral many celebrities started commenting and sharing their own reality television horror stories. However, Indian Idol host Mini Mathur’s tweet validated everything that Nishant tweeted.
The television presenter tweeted: “This sucks. Thanks for forwarding me this thread. I wasn’t part of the 2012 season but I know most of what he has articulated is known to happen on reality tv. One of the reasons I bowed out. This incessant need to create false emotion. RIP Organic, pure TV.” (sic)
This sucks. Thanks for forwarding me this thread. I wasn’t part of the 2012 season but I know most of what he has articulated is known to happen on reality tv. One of the reasons I bowed out. This incessant need to create false emotion.
RIP Organic, pure TV.— Mini Mathur (@minimathur) August 22, 2018
However, soon Mini started defending the show by tweeting that this is the reality of all the reality television shows. Mini Mathur also stated that she has never seen any contestant being ridiculed or being abuse on the set of the show.
