Prasenjit gets a one-way ticket to Kolhapur

Audiences got a shock today when, instead of Chang and Hussain, Amrita Rao took the stage. The petite and pretty actress, who looked lovely in a brown and cream dress, said she had sent Hussain on a special mission—Operation Kela—and that she had taken over as the host of Indian Idol.

Now that statement certainly didn’t fool us, but we did wonder what Operation Kela was. Turned out that Amrita had fooled Hussain into thinking she would take 45 minutes to get ready for the show, so he had eaten a few bananas and settled down for a power nap. Thankfully, he woke up in time and took over the show before the producers asked Amrita to take over permanently. After all, it’s recession people—the man needs his job.

Ek ‘Shaan’daar night

Amrita was on the show to promote her upcoming film, Victory. “Though it’s a film about cricket, it’s also about relationships,” she said. And when we talk about relationships, there is one on the show that always brings a smile to people’s faces—that of Kapil and Remo. So Hussain didn’t do any emotional atyachar and declared straight away that the two of them were safe.

But he was not willing to put the remaining five out of their misery immediately. Before he announced their fate, he called on stage the singer with the mesmerising voice and the crowd appeal, Shaan. Not only did Shaan interact with the contestants, but he also sang the soulful Tu ne re from Victory. And before he left, he announced that Sourabhee was safe.

Basking in Victory

Ajit Pal, the director of Victory, was on the show, too. “The movie is about a boy from Jaisalmer who goes on to become the greatest batsman in the world,” he said. “It is a story from ‘Ashes to Glory’.” And if you haven’t heard about the film yet, here is its best part—it features 44 of the best cricketers from around the world: right from Brett Lee to Muralidharan to Harbhajan Singh.

The girls are safe

Bhavya, Torsha and Sourabhee decided to give Amrita a treat. They sang Chale jaise hawaien from Main Hoon Na. The girls were so good that Amrita felt compelled to go on stage and dance with them. And as a reward for their great singing, she announced Torsha was safe. Ajit added to the mood of exultation by declaring Bhavya safe, too.

Great singers in the bottom yet again

Prasenjit and Rajdeep were in the bottom two yet again—a place they were very familiar with. As Annu Malek rightly put it, losing either of the boys would be a great blow to Indian idol. And this time, the unlucky one was Prasenjit. After a great homecoming last week, the boy from Kolhapur will have to return home prematurely.

However, Prasenjit took his defeat with a brave heart. He said was grateful to Indian Idol for having taught him in five months what would have taken him 10 years to learn. He then sang his swan song with dignity and exited the stage with his head held high. Such courage will find success in the world, we are sure of it. All the very best to you, Prasenjit.