Nishant
Kaushik
Opened
Up
About
His
Audition
Experience
"Brief,
nonchalant
thread
about
my
auditioning
experience
at
Indian
Idol
2012
and
why
I
think
it
is
a
perfect
platform
to
destroy
your
dreams
as
opposed
to
its
common
perception
as
a
breeding
ground
for
talent."
-
(sic)
"May.
Mumbai.
I
rocked
up
at
the
venue
more
out
of
casual
interest.
On
joining
a
queue
2
km
long
I
noticed
enthusiasts
who
had
arrived
there
as
though
their
lives
depended
on
them.
Some
with
their
mothers
holding
Prasad,
other
rebels
who
had
braved
odds
and
traveled
alone."
-
(sic)
“Joined
The
Queue
At
7
AM;
Gate
Opens
1
PM”
"I
joined
the
queue
at
7
AM.
There
were
people
who
had
arrived
at
5
AM.
Others
who
had
camped
overnight.
False
notion
that
early
arrival
=
early
audition.
No
one
from
the
crew
to
dispel
such
notions.
Gate
opens
1
PM."
-
(sic)
"In
those
long
hours
of
waiting,
no
accessible
toilets
or
food
stalls
or
drinking
water
taps.
If
you
step
out
in
search,
you
risk
losing
the
queue
which
you'd
then
have
to
rejoin.
Anyway
at
1
pm
the
long
wait
ended
right?
Wrong."
-
(sic)
“A
Volunteer
Amongst
Us
Was
Sought
To
Go
And
Grab
Shriram's
Feet!”
"At
1
PM
we
were
herded
toward
a
stage
on
the
school
ground
where
the
previous
year's
winner
Shriram
was
lip
syncing
to
Desi
Boyz.
A
volunteer
amongst
us
was
sought
to
go
and
grab
Shriram's
feet
mid-performance
and
shout
"I
wanna
be
Indian
Idol!"
Reward
promised
:
early
audition."
-
(sic)
"Sure
enough,
one
aspirant
fell
to
the
bait.
Fell
at
Shriram's
feet.
Dozens
of
retakes
demanded
by
the
director.
When
the
aspirant
said
he
couldn't
do
any
more
retakes,
assistants
on
the
set
abused
him
and
threatened
to
have
him
off
the
auditions
if
he
didn't
comply.
He
complied."
-
(sic)
Contestants
Who
Made
Enquiries
Were
Showered
With
Vile
Abuses!
"These
staged
gimmicks
went
on
till
5
pm.
By
this
time,
we
had
noticed
that
for
a
venue
as
large
as
a
school
and
for
a
crowd
in
tens
of
thousands,
the
provisions
were:
1
canister
of
water
with
a
steel
glass
bang
in
the
middle
of
the
ground,
and
1
toilet."
-
(sic)
"When
we
asked
the
crew
if
we
could
step
out
to
get
lunch
and
water,
we
were
told
to
do
so
at
our
own
risk.
As
if
auditions
would
begin
any
moment.
Contestants
who
made
enquiries
about
the
actual
commencement
of
auditions
were
either
not
responded
to,
or
showered
with
vile
abuses."
-
(sic)
"(Quick
digression
to
let
you
know
that
the
contestant
who
fell
at
Shriram's
feet
like
a
hundred
times
in
the
lure
of
"early
audition"
never
got
an
early
audition.
I
bear
testimony)."
-
(sic)
“First
The
Vultures
Came
With
Their
Mic
And
Cameras
To
The
Blind
Man”
"During
all
this
I
met
two
interesting
aspirants:
one
med
rep
from
an
Indian
village
I
don't
remember
the
name
of,
who
dragged
his
right
foot
in
a
broken
slipper.
And
another,
who
was
blind
in
both
eyes.
And
then
I
saw
the
crew
make
a
merciless
meal
of
both
of
these
kind
souls."
-
(sic)
"First
the
vultures
came
with
their
mic
and
cameras
to
the
blind
man,
who
said
he
had
a
scene's
role
in
The
Slumdog
Millionaire.
They
first
asked
him
to
give
a
little
speech
about
the
history
and
status
of
his
blindness,
how
does
it
feel
to
be
blind,
and
what
have
you."
-
(sic)
"Then
they
asked
about
his
family.
He
said
he
had
a
mother
who
was
now
dead,
leaving
him
orphaned
and
all
by
himself.
Sudden
twinkle
in
crew's
eyes
because
they
now
had
meaty
content
for
a
camera
shot.
They
probed
him
in
several
ways
on
"what
brings
you
here"."
-
(sic)
“They
Drafted
A
Response
On
His
Behalf”
"When
none
of
his
responses
flew,
they
drafted
a
"response"
on
his
behalf
and
read
it
out.
Roughly,
"I
miss
my
mother
and
I
wish
she
were
here
to
see
me,
but
I
hope
that
when
I
sing
tonight
she
can
hear
me
up
there."
They
made
him
repeat
this
even
as
his
voice
trembled."
-
(sic)
"Hours
passed
by.
At
around
8
PM,
we
were
finally
given
badges
and
ushered
in.
no
auditions
yet.
We
were
taken
to
the
basketball
court
where
for
hours
at
stretch
we
were
made
to
scream
"We
LOVE
INDIAN
IDOL!"
right
before
our
voices
were
supposedly
going
to
be
tested."
-
(sic)
One
Of
The
Crew
Members
Slapped
A
Contestant
"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.
One
of
the
crew
members
charged
up
to
him
and
slapped
him.
In
front
of
thousands
of
people.
SLAPPED.A.CONTESTANT.
Yes
this
happened."
-
(sic)
"A
scuffle
followed.
Crew
members
rescued
their
colleague
who
was
assaulted,
by
dragging
the
contestant
along
the
floor
and
evicting
him
from
the
room.
Late
into
the
night,
we
finally
arrived
in
a
corridor
that
had
a
line
of
rooms
hosting
the
auditions."
-
(sic)
“They
Giggled
At
The
Contestants
Who
Sang
Horribly”
"(Take
a
moment
to
reflect
that
by
the
time
of
the
first
round
of
audition
some
of
us
had
been
standing
at
that
venue
for
almost
24
hours).
Crew
walked
past
us,
randomly
picking
some
of
us
to
sing
a
couple
of
lines.
Just
like
that,
in
the
corridor,
with
no
judges
present."
-
(sic)
"The
naive
thought
this
was
a
smart
way
to
quicken
the
filtering
process
of
worthy
contestants.
The
smartass
crew
knew
better.
They
giggled
at
the
contestants
who
sang
horribly,
and
directed
them
to
the
only
room
that
had
a
camera
inside
it.
The
rest
of
us
got
non-camera
rooms."
-
(sic)
“Mockery
Went
On”
"The
med
rep
with
that
broken
slipper
I
told
you
about
sang
atrociously.
Through
a
half-open
door
of
the
room
with
the
camera,
I
overheard
his
"auditioning".
A
painfully
bad
rendition
of
"Likhe
jo
khat
tujhe",
to
which
the
judges
kept
going
"wah
wah!
now
try
a
higher
pitch?""
-
(sic)
"That
mockery
went
on.
The
judges
relished
that
fellow's
naivety,
asking
him
to
keep
taking
a
pitch
"higher
and
louder"
till
his
voice
turned
into
frail
shrieks
that
sent
them
into
peals
of
laughter.
He
came
out
in
tears.
Elsewhere
in
the
corridor
we
heard
of
contestants
fainting."
-
(sic)
"I
crashed
out
in
Round
3
of
the
auditions
close
to
midnight,
and
was
nearly
relieved
when
it
happened.
But
I
went
home
satisfied
that
I
got
a
taste
of
a
show
that
on
TV
had
always
appeared
alluring.
Shocked
as
I
was
by
its
reality,
I
was
a
wiser
man
by
the
end
of
the
day."
-
(sic)
“I
Don't
Even
Have
The
Heart
To
Mention
How
We
Were
Witness
To
The
Abuses”
"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."
-
(sic)
"Not
to
mention
the
labourers
who
were
hired
to
install
and
then
disassemble
the
equipment
at
the
venue.
I
don't
even
have
the
heart
to
mention
how
we
were
witness
to
the
abuses
they
were
being
subjected
to
by
the
present
staff."
-
(sic)
“We
Will
Never
Let
TRP
Hungry
Channels
Tell
Us
Otherwise”
"True
talent
is
rare.
But
every
aspiring
artist's
pride
stems
from
the
encouragement
it
gets
from
its
colleagues
and
friends
and
mohallawallahs
and
family.
In
those
little
nooks
and
crannies,
each
of
them
is
a
"star".
Reality
shows
have
no
right
to
disrespect
that.
"-
(sic)
"Thank
you
all
for
your
responses.
We
have
amazing
people
like
you
who
have
the
wisdom
to
understand
that
artists
flourish
when
they
foster
positivity
and
an
atmosphere
of
mutual
encouragement.
And
we
will
never
let
TRP
hungry
channels
tell
us
otherwise."
-
(sic)
Mini
Mathur
Acknowledges
Nishant’s
Tweets
Mini
Mathur
wrote,
"This
sucks.
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."
-
(sic)