He is barely 22, and is already signing autographs. “That’s what Indian Idol does to you. I want to tell my kids someday that their father was an Indian Idol winner,” says Vipul Mehta, winner of this edition of Indian Idol . “Till about a few months ago, nobody knew me, but now people know my name. I remember, the day after I won, I was shopping in Mumbai with my parents, and people came to me asking for autographs,” he recalls.
Three months since he won the title, and Vipul is a busy man. He has performed in eight stage shows. After travelling to Dhaka, Chittorgarh, Delhi, Nigeria... he is now in Chennai to perform at Stars Of Indian Idol , a show organised by The Madras Anchorage Round Table. “This is my first time here, and I am a bit nervous... a little anxious. I hear that the audience in Chennai are good listeners and have a good understanding of music,” says the singer from Amritsar. But he feels the anxiety does him good because otherwise he would be ‘too casual’ while singing and that could affect his performance. That’s probably why he sits by himself for two hours before the show and goes over the songs and order of the events.
So, what’s he going to perform for us? “A lot of melodious numbers. I’ll sing old songs such as ‘Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho’ by Mohammed Rafi ji , ‘Jaaneja Dhundta Fir Raha’ by Kishore Kumar ji ... and many other songs by them. In addition, I’ll also sing a few songs from my album,” he adds.
The album Fabulous Four features songs by Vipul and the other top contestants of Indian Idol 6 — Devendra Pal Singh, Amit Kumar and Poorvi Koutish. It has eight songs in all, two each sung by them. Shortly, he plans to begin working on his solo album. Apart from that, Vipul has also recorded for a film song. “This is my first break in Bollywood. I recorded it last month. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really nervous, and paid attention to what the music director wanted. I believe a singer is one who can execute exactly what the composer wants,” he says. Details? “I am not allowed to talk about it yet. It’s a remake of an old Hindi film,” is all he divulges.
But he tells us that if there’s one actor he wants to sing for, it will be Sunny Deol, whose die-hard fan he is. “I am glad I had the opportunity to meet him. Dharmendra ji had come to the sets of Indian Idol and I had requested him if he could arrange for me to meet Sunny ji . The next day his P.A. called me and asked me to meet him,” he gushes.
Fan of action flicks
This mellow-voiced, soft-spoken singer is a fan of action flicks and holds a brown belt in Karate. But once he got serious about music, everything else took a back seat. He has been training in music for 13 years now and enjoys singing all genres of music — be it romantic or hard rock. The judges on the reality show called him a versatile singer.
What does he plan to do next? “I want to get into playback singing, and also get a Masters in Mass Communication. I have got quite a few film song offers, which I am finalising with my music team. Now in Chennai, I plan to visit A.R. Rahman’s academy in Kodambakkam.”
(Vipul will be joined by Amit Kumar and Poorvi Koutish at Stars Of Indian Idol . The event will take place on December 2 at Sir Mutha Venkatasubbarao Hall. For passes, call 93805-18787)
