Abhijeet Sawant not only emerged as the winner of Indian Idol season 1 in 2004, but also became a fan favourite. The singer has often opened up about how his life took a 360 degree turn after winning the singing reality show. The runner-ups of that season, Amit Sana and Rahul Vaidya, also gained a lot of popularity. Now, in a recent interview, Abhijeet revealed that he was scared that the makers or music company would trap him in a long contract and he won’t be able to churn in his prime years. He also opened up about the rivalry amongst fans to make their favourite contestant out of the trio, win the show.
During a conversation with Gaana, he recalled the time before Indian Idol finale and shared, “It has been more than 20 years, but as far as I remember, I had confidence about winning the show. I was also nervous about what might happen in the future. It wasn’t like Bigg Boss that you don’t know what’s happening outside, I could actually see people going crazy and girls swooning over me. You belong to a small society, you were drinking tea at a small corner everyday six months ago, and now suddenly the entire country is looking at you.”
The singer further revealed his prime fear during that time. He added, “We didn’t know what will come in our hands after the show. Today’s generation is more confident, but we used to doubt the intentions of every person who offered a lot of money, only thought that they might be scamming. Even when I was about to get a contract before winning, many people in our family said that I shouldn’t sign anything or any album’s contract. I was scared that they might create a contract where I get stuck into this contract, they will ruin my future..and mujhe pakad ke rakh lenge (they will trap me here).”
However, everything turned out in Abhijeet Sawant‘s favour and his life changed a lot of winning the reality show. “Everything changed after winning the show. I wasn’t able to go home, there were always so many people around the house to meet me, when I used to come back from my show. Many of my friends tell me that very less people have seen such kind of a craze. At that time, I used to feel that they will make me sign a 5-10 year contract, then I will get stuck, and my life’s best years will go away, and they will then throw me away. But, that didn’t happen. I was associated with Sony for 5-6 years, companies can take you on a higher level if it’s a good relationship,” he reflected.
He also shared that a fan once declined to shake hands with him, expressing his inclination to the runner up – Amit Sana. “The craze for all three of us (Abhijeet, Rahul, Amit) at that time was on another level. We were once in Calcutta for promotional activities, ahead of the finale. So, a sea of fans surrounded me, Amit wasn’t there. Everyone was meeting me, and suddenly a hand came over other people’s heads. When I tried shaking hands with that fan, he pulled away and said, ‘I am Amit’s fan’. So, there was a major rivalry amongst our fans at that time even without social media, it was a different era altogether,” he said.
Abhijeet Sawant is known for several hit songs, including his winning performance track Mohabbatein Lutaaunga, Mar Jaawan Mit Jaawan (Aashiq Banaya Aapne), Happy Ending (Tees Maar Khan), and many more.
