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| Edited By: Sapana Patil Poojary |Source: |Updated: Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
Aneek Dhar admits that he never expected to win the crown at the ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007’.
Instead, he always thought his best friend Amanat Ali is a “close contender” for the title. “I had not expected to win. But I was confident of myself and had faith in God,” he says at the onset.
Quiz him on what he thinks made him the winner and he nonchalantly says, “Hardwork.” So was he sure that he was the undisputed winner?
“No. I believed I had a treat from Amanat Ali. He is an amazing singer and my best friend also. But, I seriously thought he was my close contender.”
The 17-year old beat Rajasthan’s Raja Hassan and Pakistan’s Amanat Ali to clinch the crown. He won a two-year music contract worth Rs 50 lakh with Universal Music and Zee TV and a sparkling Chevrolet Spark car.
Aneek recounts the time when he made a wild card entry on the show. He says that was the toughest period of his journey on the show. “I made a wild card entry to this show as the winner of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Bangla’ (Zee Bangla).
My wild card entry got wild in the true sense. My mentors Ismailji (Darbar) and Himeshji (Reshammiya) had strongly
opposed my entry. But I was persistent and eventually won everyone.”
Remind him that the winners of a reality show often get overshadowed by those in the industry and he quickly rebuts,
“The purpose of reality shows is to provide a platform for the talented. ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ has provided me that platform and I am going to make best out of it.”
On that note, Aneek tells aspiring singers, “There is no substitute to hardwork and have faith in God.” Apart from aiming at carving a niche in music, Aneek aims to become a sound engineer.
Aneek’s first step after the win will be a journey to the Bipodtarini temple in Kolkata.
