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Indian Idol 10: Haryana’s Salman Ali was announced as the winner of the 10th edition of the singing-based reality show Indian Idol on Sunday here. He says he wants to do a lot of things, including Bollywood projects.
Salman was awarded a cheque of Rs 25 lakh from Sony Entertainment Television and a Datsun car during the grand finale.
“I would like to thank the audience and the judges for making me the winner. People from my village are very happy. I am getting lots of calls. They are distributing sweets there and bursting crackers,” Salman, who hails from Mewat, Haryana, told IANS after his victory.
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The first runner-up Ankush Bhardwaj was awarded a cheque of Rs 5 lakh. The second runner-up Neelanjana Ray also took home a cheque of Rs 5 lakh.
The other finalists — Nitin Kumar and Vibhor Parashar — were handed over a cheque of Rs 3 lakh each.
“We are all like a family only. We used to crack jokes, help each other and have fun so, there was no competition. As far as being a winner is concerned, everyone comes here to win only. But I had thought that even if I didn’t win, at least I got a lot of love from the audience,” he said.
Asked how he will utilise the prize money, the 20-year-old said: “I come from a very poor family. My house is also not in a good condition. The roof of my house needs to be fixed. We had taken loan also. So, I would like to use the money for all this. I want to take my life forward with this money.”
But if he gets a chance, he would also like to help the underprivileged.
This is not his first show as a contestant. He had previously participated in another reality shows. His journey in music started early.
“I have just studied till ninth or 10th grade. We have our family business which is singing. So, I started earning when I was just seven years old,” he said.
He has Bollywood dreams now.
“I want to do a lot of things in my life. I want to do something in Bollywood. A lot of people from Bollywood had come on the set of ‘Indian Idol’. A lot of them even praised me. So, I am sure they will give me a chance and I will prove myself,” he said.