Indian Idol: Ex participant talks about physical abuse on the show; former host Mini Mathur lends her support

Lately, the singing reality show Indian Idol, has been hogging the limelight but for all the wrong reasons. A former contestant of the reality show, Nishant Kaushik has revealed the abuse that contestants are subjected to in the show. Nishant Kaushik, who claims to have reached the third round of the audition process (2012) shared a series of tweets in which he immaculately described the abuse certain contestants were subjected to.

To begin with, Nishant wrote, “Indian Idol is a perfect platform to destroy your dreams as opposed to its common perception as a breeding ground for talent.” Nishant didn’t stop here. He went on to narrate how contestants were made to stand in queues for hours without access to food, water or toilets, and if anyone stepped out of line to have some water, they would end up losing their spot. To this, former host of the show, Mini Mathur, replied on Twitter, “This sucks,” She further wrote, “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.”

If this was not enough, Nishant went on to talk about more ‘staged gimmicks’ where certain contestants were picked from the crowd based on their appearance and were given scripted lines to speak into the camera. “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,” Nishant wrote. “One of the crew members charged up to him and slapped him. In front of thousands of people. SLAPPED.A.CONTESTANT. Yes this happened,” he added.

To end it all, he the ex-Indian Idol contestant wrote, “My summarized observation of Indian Idol was that it decorates and recognizes maybe 10 or less, very worthy participants annually. But en route it quashes a million people’s hearts by disrespecting them, ridiculing and abusing them, denying them a conducive atmosphere to contest.”

Currently, Indian Idol season 10 is being judged by Anu Malik, Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani. The show is hosted by Maniesh Paul.