Millions of viewers glued to Fame Gurukul

The three finalists (L-R) Qazi Touqeer, Ruprekha Banerjee and Rex D'Souza performing at the show

Fame Gurukul is a reality show that unfolded the story of 14 singers fighting for the two top slots (also called Fame Jodi) in a music academy called Gurukul. The winners received a Rs.10 million deal with Sony and a recording contract with a leading music company.

While lyricist Javed Akhtar, singer KK (Krishna Kumar) and musician Shankar Mahadevan were on the jury, folk singer Ila Arun was the "strict" headmistress of the music academy. The show on Sony was hosted by Mandira Bedi and Manav Gohli.

According to Ila Arun, "Our aim was to take only those who are good singers as well as combine a drive to showcase something new and have the ability to work hard. They had to have a classical base with knowledge of the ragas and also had to be able to present themselves in popular songs."

"We found some talented singers through Fame Gurukul," said hard task master, lyricist Javed Akhtar.

Fame Gurukul premiered on June 27 this year. Based on a successful Spanish reality show called Operation Truinfo, Sony Entertainment Television's Fame Gurukul gave millions of Indians a taste of fierce competition, spectacular performances and stardom success. Operation Truinfo has been adapted across 11 countries, gripping millions of viewers across three continents.

The auditions for the programme were held across Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Indore.

Now that the programme is over, viewers are likely to miss a glimpse of the life, struggle, hopes and aspirations of these young singers. Hopefully the Fame Jodi will keep entertaining the audience for years.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent