Indian Idol Winners List (Season 1-13) & Where are They Now

In 2004, Sony TV’s ‘Indian Idol’ changed the landscape of reality TV shows in India. The unique singing competition provided a platform for young, talented Indians to showcase their melodious voices to the world.

The unique TV show started with leading Bollywood playback singers judging and dynamic hosts adding the fun element to it. The Indian music industry has been blessed with some of the most beautiful voices, which started with “Indian Idol.” Think of Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, and Monali Thakur.

The show is always respected and appreciated for its fairness and appreciation for good talent.Some of the Indian Idol winners from the last six seasons have found their place in the Indian music industry, while others have quit trying newer avenues. The show announces one winner, who’s awarded a cash prize and a car. Here’s a quick round-up of the list of Indian Idol winners and what they’re up to now.

1- Abhijeet Sawant (Season 1)

With his melancholic voice, Abhijeet Sawant became the first-ever winner of the ‘Indian Idol’ season 1. The show was judged by Anu Malik, Farah Khan, and Sonu Nigam.

He released his first album ‘Aap Ka Abhijeet’ followed by his second album ‘Junoon’. Both the albums were well-received by their fans. Abhijeet also tried his luck in the Bollywood industry with his film ‘Lottery’ which bombed at the Box Office. Abhijeet is currently planning to start his reality show but has no success yet.

2- Sandeep Acharya (Season 2)

The second season aired from November 2005 to April 2006. Sandeep Acharya bagged first place in the ‘Indian Idol 2’ along with a Rs 10 million contract with Sony BIG. Unfortunately, the actor lost his life to Jaundice in December 2013. He was 29 years old then.

3- Prashant Tamang (Season 3)

The third season of Indian Idol was hosted by four judges – Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar, Alisha Chinayi, and Udit Narayan. The Indian-born Nepalese singer, Prashant Tamang won the third season of ‘Indian Idol’ season 3 in 2007.

As per his contract, Prashant produced his maiden album ‘Dhanyawaad’ featuring Hindi and Nepalese songs with Sony BMG. Prashant also toured around the USA for his concerts. Prashant has done three films so far, called Gorkha, Paltan, Angalo Yo Maya Ko, and Kina Maya Ma, and producing songs for the North-Eastern music industry.

4- Sourabhee Debbarma (Season 4)

Season four of ‘Indian Idol’ aired in September 2008. Hailing from Tripura in North-East India, Sourabhee Debbarma became the first-ever female winner of the Indian Idol. She also happens to hold a Guinness World Record of singing a song hanging upside down. She is a singer, entertainer, and performer who continues to tour around India, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Durban, Kuwait, Bangladesh, and London.

5- Sreerama Chandra Mynampati (Season 5)

In the list of Indian Idol winners, Sreeramchandra Mynampati became the first-ever South Indian. The melodious singer ditched his singing career for a chance in the Telugu film industry. He made his acting debut with Prema Geema Jantha Nai, produced by Dadi Bala Bhaskar and Maddala Bhaskar and directed by Subbu.

He happens to be the only singer from Asia to have a song from his album Rehnuma featured in a Hollywood film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

6- Vipul Mehta (Season 6)

Vipul Mehta bagged a cash prize of Rs 50 Lakh, A Nissan Micra car, Suzuki Hayate Bike, and a music album contract with Sony BMG.

The trained classical singer won the title of ‘Indian Idol’ in season 6 that aired in 2012. He also released his debut album Hello Namaste Sat Sri Akal, but it didn’t do very well. He has lent his voice for Punjabi songs but nothing too mainstream. The singer is still struggling to find a decent place in the playback singing industry in Mumbai.

7- Anjana Padmanabhan (Season 7- Indian Idol Junior Season 1)

Indian Idol Junior Season 1 was launched on June 1, 2013 on Sony Entertainment Television, and it is part of Indian Idol, so it is considered the 7th season of the show. It was judged by Bollywood’s popular singer duo, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, popularly known as Vishal-Shekhar, along with Shreya Ghoshal.

It was hosted by Mandira Bedi and Karan Wahi and declared Anjana Padmanabhan as its winner, when she was just 10 years old, whereas Debanjana Karmakar ended up as the runner-up. She lives with her chartered accountant father and homemaker mother. Apart from singing, she loves to play games like basketball and tennis.

She is quite active on Instagram, where she has over 50K followers. She often shares glimpses of her personal as well as professional life with her fans on social media.

8- Ananya Nanda (Season 8- Indian Idol Junior Season 2)

Indian Idol Junior Season 2 aired on May 30, 2015, and it was won by Ananya Nanda, who hails from Bhuwaneshwar, Odisha, while Nahid Afrin from Assam was declared the runner-up.

The show was hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala and Asha Negi, with Vishal Dadlani, Sonakshi Sinha, and Salim Merchant as the judges.

Ananya was with Prasanna Kumar Nanda, who is the director of a government industrial department, and Prasanti Mishra, who is a homemaker. She completed her intermediate at KIIT International University, where she was a school topper. She now lives in Mumbai.

9- L.V. Revanth (Season 9)

The ninth season of “Indian Idol” aired after a long wait of four years. L.V. has proven his mettle in the music industry by singing over 200 songs in Telugu and Kannada films. He also won Rock Star, Spicy Singer on Maa TV, and Superstar of the South.

Lolla Venkat also received the IIFA Utsavam and MAA Music Award nominations for Best Male Playback Singer. L.V. has participated in over 11 reality TV shows. Interestingly, he won most of them.

10- Salman Ali (Season 10)

Season 11 of Indian Idol was judged by ace singer Neha Kakkar, and Salman Ali won “Indian Idol” Season 10 with a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a Dustan car, and a trophy. With his excellent voice and singing prowess, Salman Ali also became the Second Runner Up in ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’.

Salman also lent his voice in the television show “Chandragupta Maurya.” Hailing from Haryana, Salman has the nation hooked on his beautiful voice, which once graced the stage of “Indian Idol” season 10.

11- Sunny Hindustani (Season 11)

The guy who once used to do shoe shining in the streets of Punjab, who came from a very poor family, won millions of hearts with his soothing and soulful voice in the popular singing show Indian Idol 12, and made his debut as a playback singer in the film “The Body.”

Many music experts compare his voice to the late veteran Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s; he performed NFAK’s songs in the competition. 

12- Pawandeep Rajan (Season 12)

Uttarakhand’s Champawat district 24-year-old guy Pawandeep bagged the trophy of ‘Indian Ideal season 12 ‘while his rumored love interest Arunita Kajilal and one more Sayali Kamble declared runners-up in the season.

Before winning Indian Idol 2021, he has already won the singing show ‘The voice India’ five years back where Himesh Reshammiya was one of the judges. After winning the show ‘Indian Idol 12’, he said he was not feeling great because every one of them deserves this.

Indian Idol is the biggest singing show of India where contestants across the country participate in this reality singing show. Comment below in the Indian Idol Winners List for your favorite among them.

13- Indian Idol 13 Winner: Rishi Singh

Indian Idol 13 started with 15 contestants, and among all of them, Rishi Singh of Uttar Pradesh emerged as the winner of Indian Idol Season 13. Rishi received Rs. 25 lakh as the winning amount along with the trophy, and Maruti Suzuki India gifted him a Breeza.

Apart from Rishi, Debosmita Roy and Chirag Kotwal were the first and second runners-up, respectively, and received a trophy and a check for 5 lakh each. The third and fourth runners-up of the show, Bidipta Chakraborty and Shivam Singh, were given a check for 3 lakh each.