Sunny Hindustani is Indian Idol 11

Team L&M

World renowned footballer Pele once said: “ Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” So perfect are these words when one witnesses the journey of Indian Idol 11 winner, Sunny Hindustani. He won himself a cheque of Rs 25 lakh, a car and a singing contract from T-Series.
When he walked for the auditions in October last on the Sony TV show, Sunny informed the judges – Himesh Reshammiya, Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani – that he polished shoes for a living while his mother went around the village selling balloons. But today the 21-year-old from Amarpura Basti in Bhatinda, Punjab has been successful, majorly due to the qualities Pele had mentioned about.

One of the major reasons why Sunny has been so famous is due to his voice sounding similar to the legendary singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Fond of singing from childhood days, Sunny always participated in all cultural and annual functions in school till class VI when he dropped out of school to perform at various functions in his village as well as nearby areas. Unfortunately, his father passed away due to a prolonged illness in 2014 when Sunny was just 16. The same year, Sunny appeared in Sony TV’s show, Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.
The first and second runner-up of the show Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee got Rs 5 lakh each, while Ridham Kalyan and Adriz Ghosh who were fourth and fifth on the show, took Rs 3 lakh home. Every finalist also received Rs 1 lakh cheque from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from the sponsors.