Indian Idol 12 Finale Highlights: Pawandeep Rajan Wins Trophy, Arunita Kanjilal and Sayali Kamble Runner-Ups

Popular reality show Indian Idol 12’s marathon 12-hour grand finale held on Independence Day has finally wrapped up, with Pawandeep Rajan lifting the winner’s trophy. The show has started at 12pm on 15th August continued till after midnight, when the final winner was revealed. Winner Pawandeep Rajan, who was the favourite going in, was awarded Rs 25 lakh as prize money and also gifted a car. Arunita Kanjilal and Sayali Kamble emerged runner-ups.

During the marathon 12-hour run, the contestants paid emotional tributes to the Indian Army, Navy, Airforce and other defence organisations with their performance. This was not the only exciting factor of the show. The Grand Finale not only featured several performances from the finalists, many special guests also participated in the event. Javed Ali, Sukhwinder Singh, Raghav Sachar, Mika Singh, Sadhana Sargam, Annu Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani graced the finale episode. The highlights of the finale were solo performances of Kumar Sanu, Sonu Kakkar and Alka Yagnik. Alka paid tribute to Lata Mangeshkar and revealed she watches Indian Idol regularly. Sonu was one of the singers who rendered folk melodies. Her performance with Sawai Bhatt was spellbinding. Udit Narayan put on a melodious performance with six Indian Idol female contestants– Sayali Kamble, Shanmukhapriya, Arunita Kanjilal, Anjali Gaikwad, Anushka Banerjee and Sireesha Bhagvatula and also performed separately with Alka. The Great Khali and Mohd Danish also had a face off. Khali thanked Indian Idol team for having him. Vishal Dadlani also joined the stage for the first time since May and performed with the top six contestants.

The Indian Idol 12 finalists were Pawandeep Rajan, Nihal Tauro, Shanmukhapriya, Arunita Kanjilal, Sayali Kamble and Mohd Danish. This is the first time that six participants have entered the finals together. Shanmukhapriya was places 6yh, Nihal 5th and Danish 4th. Sayali Kamble and Arunita Kanjilal were runner ups. The show was hosted by singer Aditya Narayan and Jay Bhanushali and judged by Anu Malik, Sonu Kakkar and Himesh Reshammiya. The show was also previously judged by Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar, who had to leave it during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. Some ex Indian Idol contestants also performed on the Indian Idol stage. Host Aditya Narayan also expressed his desire to see a woman contestant win this time round. In 2009, Sourabhee Debbarma was the first female to win the prestigious singing reality show in season 4.