The ex aspirant revealed that even one of the contestants was slapped by a crew member.
Nishant Kaushik, who claims to have reached the third round of the audition process in the 2012 edition of the singing reality show, Indian Idol, wrote a series of tweets in which he described in great detail the ‘abuse’ certain contestants were subjected to.
He wrote, “(Indian Idol) is a perfect platform to destroy your dreams as opposed to its common perception as a breeding ground for talent,”
He went on to describe how contestants were made to stand in queues for hours without access to food, water or toilets. To step out of line to have some water could risk in them losing their spot. He said even one of the contestants was slapped by a crew member. Check out his tweets
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
May. Mumbai. I rocked up at the venue more out of casual interest. On joining a queue 2 km long I noticed enthusiasts who had arrived there as though their lives depended on them. Some with their mothers holding Prasad, other rebels who had braved odds and traveled alone.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
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
In those long hours of waiting, no accessible toilets or food stalls or drinking water taps. If you step out in search, you risk losing the queue which you'd then have to rejoin. Anyway at 1 pm the long wait ended right? Wrong.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
At 1 PM we were herded toward a stage on the school ground where the previous year's winner Shriram was lip syncing to Desi Boyz. A volunteer amongst us was sought to go and grab Shriram's feet mid-performance and shout "I wanna be Indian Idol!" Reward promised : early audition.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
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
When we asked the crew if we could step out to get lunch and water, we were told to do so at our own risk. As if auditions would begin any moment. Contestants who made enquiries about the actual commencement of auditions were either not responded to, or showered with vile abuses.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
(Quick digression to let you know that the contestant who fell at Shriram's feet like a hundred times in the lure of "early audition" never got an early audition. I bear testimony).
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
During all this I met two interesting aspirants: one med rep from an Indian village I don't remember the name of, who dragged his right foot in a broken slipper. And another, who was blind in both eyes. And then I saw the crew make a merciless meal of both of these kind souls.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
Hours passed by. At around 8 PM, we were finally given badges and ushered in. no auditions yet. We were taken to the basketball court where for hours at stretch we were made to scream "We LOVE INDIAN IDOL!" right before our voices were supposedly going to be tested.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
At this point one of the aspirants lost his shit and stood up, demanding to see where the auditions were happening, to see the judges. One of the crew members charged up to him and slapped him. In front of thousands of people. SLAPPED.A.CONTESTANT. Yes this happened.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
(Take a moment to reflect that by the time of the first round of audition some of us had been standing at that venue for almost 24 hours). Crew walked past us, randomly picking some of us to sing a couple of lines. Just like that, in the corridor, with no judges present.
— Nishant Kaushik (@nofreecopies) August 20, 2018
Reacting on this, former Indian Idol host Mini Mathur tweeted
“This sucks,” Mini Mathur, who has hosted the show between 2004-07 and once again in 2012, wrote on Twitter. “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.”
This sucks. Thanks for forwarding me this thread. I wasnt 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.
— Mini Mathur (@minimathur) August 22, 2018
RIP Organic, pure TV.
Well, now we wonder how the makers of the reality show will react to the allegations.
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