Indian Idol 11: Sunny Hindustani from Bathinda emerges as winner of singing reality show

At the grand finale of Indian Idol 11, Sunny Hindustani from Bathinda was declared the winner. The young singer was awarded a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh and a Tata Altroz car. According to Indian Express, he has also been signed by T-Series to sing in one of their upcoming films. Sunny beat Rohit Raut from Latur, Ankona Mukherjee and Adriz Ghosh from Kolkata and Ridham Kalyan from Amritsar in the finals. The top 5 even paid tribute to the Indian Idol judges Neha Kakkar, Vishal Dadlani and Himesh Reshammiya. Meanwhile, Sunny sang a medley of songs including ‘Mere Rashke Qamar’ and ‘Halka Halka Suroor’, writes India Today. Here are photos from the grand finale

“I had not thought of getting through the first round, leave alone winning the competition. I have come a long way and can’t believe that the journey has just started. From getting the opportunity to sing on such a big platform to winning the show is like all my dreams. I will always be thankful to the judges for mentoring and guiding me and to Sony Entertainment Television for giving me a platform to perform in front of legends of the music industry and an opportunity to meet so many stars. I can’t believe that the whole of India heard my voice voted for me wholeheartedly to make me desh ki awaaz," Sunny said in a statement, writes Indian Express. The grand finale of this season of the singing reality show saw performances by Ayushmann Khurrana, Kakkar, and host Aditya Narayan. The first and second runners-up of the show Raut and Mukherjee received Rs 5 lakh each, while Kalyan and Gosh were awarded Rs 3 lakh eah. Every finalist also received a cheque of Rs 1 lakh from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from sponsors.