Ruprekha Banerjee and Qazi Touqeer, winners of Fame Gurukul, along with co-finalist Rex D’Souza and (below) Sanchita Bhattacharya, winner of L’il Champ receiving the award from Shah Rukh Khan

Indian Idol, the Indian version of the international Idol series, was bang on. And the others echoed the boom! Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj, Dance Dance (an unsuccessful wannabe), Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 were followed by Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, L’il Champs Mera Star Superstar and more. ‘Reality’ talent hunt shows are the order of the day. But do the ‘reality’ talent hunt winners end up being as big a name in the industry as those who made it without such a platform?

Abhijit Sawant, the first Indian Idol, is doing pretty well in shows and a bit of playback singing here and there. However, the second Indian Idol, Sandeep Acharya, is nowhere to be seen or heard after the contest that ended almost eight months ago.

Where are the winners of Ek Main Aur Ek Tu — Ujjaini and Aishwarya? They just did a silly music video on the already sung songs of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate.

Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj 2 is here, but no one knows what the winners, Sharwar Ahuja and Aditi Sharma, are doing. Their co-contestants Divyanka Tripathi, Sharad Malhotra, Yuvika Chaudhry, Abbas and Amruta Khanvilkar are happy being telly stars now. Similarly, Indian Idol contestants Rahul Vaidya, Prajakta, Kaurunya and Aditi also seem to have faded away from the limelight after their 15 minutes of fame.

Kashmir boy Qazi Touqeer was a rockstar when Fame Gurukul was on air in Sony. As predicted by many, he emerged the winner. He and his jodidaar, Ruprekha, even came out with an album after the much-touted triumph. But since then it has not been as rosy for them. Qazi’s long term plans of hitting into films (he had said even then he would only do playback for his own films) have not met with any form of concrete success till now. His high-profile debut in Bobby Khan’s film opposite Sneha Ullal went bust when Bobby Khan dumped him on account of his lean physique. A war of words in the media followed after which Qazi claimed that he was signing something bigger which many consider suspect. Chances are Qazi will not emerge out of the big screen at all, and definitely not feature in any big banner film!

Ruprekha has fared worse and there are no reports of her signing anything. Sony TV went to the extent of not committing on the issue with the Chief Creative Head, Sandip Sickand, saying, “I can’t say anything as I was not there then.” Even his associate, Gursheel Walia, refused to comment, saying, “I can’t say anything about reality shows as I only look into fiction.”

Nobody from the production house, Miditech, wanted to say anything about Fame Gurukul. The next instalment, Fame X, is in the pipeline, even then nobody wants to comment anything about Fame Gurukul. The channel and the production house even claimed that Qazi and Ruprekha can’t be traced as their numbers have changed!! This attitude more or less exemplifies the concern for TRPs of the show while it’s on air and then forgetting all about it and its so-called winners!

(From top) Abhijit Sawant, the first Indian Idol ; Prajakta, contestants of the first Indian Idol; Sandeep Acharya, the second Indian Idol winner

It is a short-time game — easy come and easy go. These people are getting a chance to perform on this platform which itself is a big thing for them. Again, they get a chance to meet the most important people of the film industry. For us, it was a long struggle. We even had to beg for work. They should be grateful about having this opportunity. Ultimately in the end, it’s the talent and the marketing which drives them ahead,” says choreographer Terrance Lewis and judge of Dance Dance which was aired on Sony more than a year and a half ago.

Anu Malik, judge of Indian Idol, analyses why Abhijit Sawant has done better than Sandeep Acharya. “But who knew Sandeep before? It’s only because of Indian Idol that the journalists are talking about him right now. After being selected, he has to keep up with his efforts and hard work. The platform had been given to him. So now you know why Abhijit is a star,” he says candidly.

Debojit Saha, the winner of Challenge 2005, is doing as good as Abhijit Sawant with some shows, an album and playback singing offers. But the graph of his progress will be only clear in the near future.

Young Sanchita Bhattacharya has no doubt won L’il Champs beating the much younger Sameer and Dwivakar, but whether she’ll live up to the expectations will be another story again.

“Debojit sang in a film for me. Sanchita has got a scholarship and with time she will be used and do better in life. Himesh Reshammiya has signed Vineet, the finalist of Challenge 2005. If you think of it, even Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal were spotted through Meri Awaaz Suno and Sa Re Ga Ma respectively,” says Bappi Lahiri, judge of L’il Champs.

His co-judge Alka Yagnik sums it up better. “All of them can’t get their dues. Only the best can. And it’s ultimately the hard work, the course of action they take and how well they handle themselves and their career matters. We can just give them their initial boost,” she says.

(From top) Yuvika Chaudhry and Divyanka Tripathi, both contestants of Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj, now doing TV serials; Debojit Saha, winner of Challenge 2005

Even if you feel that the singers have done fine, the actors for now are still wannabes. The first pair of actors to emerge out of a ‘reality’ talent hunt show, Aditi and Sharwar, are still to make their debut. But they have not lost hope. They are very proud of their forthcoming film with Mukta Arts. “I am doing a film with Mukta Arts. It’s tentatively titled Raaste Pyaar Ke. I don’t have any regrets. I mean, it’s all right, as the project is happening. I think they would start publicising the movie from next month. I have done a Godrej No.1 soap ad. Then I did a short film with Pankaj Kapur. Getting a break is a big thing. It’s just been two years since I came to Mumbai. I have heard stories of people struggling for such a long time,” says Aditi.

Sharwar echoes her opinion. “Only a couple of songs remain to be shot. There have been a lot of changes in the Zee management after the contest got over. It took time for the new people to start afresh. Besides Raaste Pyaar Ke, I am also doing a film with veteran Basu Bhattacharya, Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, which is a comedy flick. The shooting of the film is almost complete. I would also be starring in Phir Mile Na Mile, directed by Manish Goyal. But Raaste Pyaar Ke would be my first release. I have no complaints against Zee as they brought me to Mumbai and introduced me to the film industry,” he says.

Zee TV also thinks that they will hit the right note with this pair. “The music release is in December while the film would be released in February. In the entertainment industry sometimes it takes time for the project to get started. It may have taken longer than the scheduled time, but at least they have got the right platform to take off from. In the movie business promotion only starts before a few days of the film’s release. Once the date comes nearer, you will see them everywhere. It’s a strategy. If we talk about them now the impact will be killed during the time of release as you media people get bored very soon,” justifies Tarun Mehra, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Zee TV.

It’s evident that they are still expecting something big. But it does sound like face-saving words, too. When Mukta Arts’ star-studded Kisna, Shaadi Se Pehle and 36, China Town failed to get the cash registers ringing, where does this film stand? Also, all the other names sound so very obscure. Sahara was also supposed to launch a filmstar hunt show but chickened out at the last moment. To make big stars out of wannabes is not as easy as spelling makeover. Mostly, it remains a temporary twinkle twinkle.