"I had full faith in God and our divine audience"Aneek Dhar

His wild card entry attracted criticism from some quarters but at the end of the grand finale of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, Aneek Dhar was crowned the undisputed winner. The 17-year-old from Kolkata pipped Bikaner's Raja Hasan by a whopping 13 lakh votes to win the musical reality show. Apart from bagging a Rs 50 lakh contract with Zee TV and Universal Music, Aneek won a Chevrolet spark car too. An ecstatic Aneek says, "I was confident of pulling it through. I had full faith in God and our divine audience. However, I do confess that Rajabhai was the overwhelming favourite and Amanat was the best amongst us. There will be no immediate celebration as I plan to spend the night with my family." Indians have a short memory and winners of such contests fail to have a long lasting impression on them. Do you fear the same could happen to you? "I was aware of this fact before I entered Sa Re Ga Ma. I told myself that if I have to take part in this show, I have to perform in a manner that people will remember me for the next 20 years. My work just doesn't end with winning this contest. The real struggle starts now. I just need to carry on the good work," quips Aneek. All of 17, is Aneek equipped to handle this fame? The youngster replies, "This instant fame can be very scary for a 17-year-old. I'm fortunate to have a psychologist as my father. He's often told me how youngsters tend to lose focus after tasting fame at a very early age. I want to stay with my parents forever. I'll make sure that my character never takes a beating." Verdicts in reality shows are not always determined by one's performance but how well he/she appeals to the audience. It's here where Aneek's mentor Himesh Reshammiya played a pivotal role. However, the singer sings a different tune. "No doubt Himeshji was very passionate about me. But he never went out of his way to promote me. Whenever I erred, he simply stated that I should leave the result into the hands of the almighty. When I did well, he used to echo these words - 'superb, mind blowing, fantastic". Himesh Reshammiya is very keen on seeing the likes of Aneek, Raja compete with the top five playback singers in Bollywood. So is Aneek ready to displace any one of them? "It will be wishful thinking on one's part to even compare us with these stalwarts. It will take me some time to emerge as a playback singer. At the moment, my priority is to just hone my singing" said the Sa Re Ga.. victor. It's been a rewarding year for the Bengali boy. Before coming to Sa Re Ga.., Aneek cleared his class 12 exams. The 17-year-old wants to do sound engineering after completing his graduation. He gave many a memorable performance on Sa Re Ga… but Aneek rated his singing of the tracks 'Satrangi' and 'Bulla Ki Jaana' as the best. The teenager created magic with his singing but he also stole many hearts, particularly of Bollywood beauty Dia Mirza whom he proposed on the show. So has he received a call from the pretty Dia? "Not as yet. I'm sure she's likely to offers her congratulations. I'm eagerly awaiting her call" says a blushing Aneek. Here's wishing Aneek more than a call from Dia. We also pray that the Sa Re Ga Ma 2007 winner doesn't suffer the same fate as his predecessor Debojit.