Winner takes all

Thu, Jul 17 01:05 AM

Rahul Vaidya is thrilled to bits. The singer has just won Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, beating Indian Idol nemesis Abhijeet Sawant and Harshit Saxena, first runner-up of Star Voice of India.

"Winning the title feels great. I've become Champion of the Champions," says an ecstatic Rahul.

"I think Jo Jeeta and #8230; is a bigger title than Indian Idol because there were no new faces; people knew every contestant very well." This victory is even sweeter for Rahul because it comes after his loss in Indian Idol 1.

"I was shattered, and it took me a long time to come out of that shock," reveals Rahul. "I wasn't even part of the grand finale as I was the second runner-up.

But jo hota hai achhe ke liye hota hai." Mum's the word Rahul is putting all the controversies of the show behind him, including fellow contestant Amit Tandon's comment: "Yeh mehnat nahi karta hai.

" Rahul's reply to that is, "I don't react to comments. I believe if you're good, people will talk about you, and I think I've proved myself by winning this title.

" And what about his attempts to impress the judges? "I've never tried that," he protests. "I gave a flower to Mandira Bedi because I have a crush on her.

I didn't do it for the TRPs." A different route The 20-year-old says that though he has won a music contest, he doesn't want to become a playback singer in Bollywood.

"I want to be an actor first and then sing for myself. I don't want to act in TV serials as I don't want play a father or grandfather, I just want to be my age.

I have been talking to producers and #8230;" Meanwhile, he's working on his next project. "It's an album called Maula Mere.

It will be out in another two months and I'm looking forward to it." But what of the fact that not too many reality show contestants have had any success outside TV? "The industry is already full of singers," Rahul replies without actually answering.

He's more enthusiastic talking about his prize money. As Superstar, he's won Rs 50 lakh.

And he has got plans for it: "I'm planning to buy a house for my brother, send my parents on a foreign tour and donate some amount to visually challenged people.".

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