Indian Idol winner sets out to triumph in Bollywood next

South Indian playback singer LV Revanth, winner of the trophy that most singers in this country dream of, has now set himself one more goal: that of learning Hindi and making it big in Bollywood.

On Sunday night, at the grand finale of Indian Idol Season 9, Revanth had his euphoric moment, receiving the trophy from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and raising it high for a well-deserved round of applause.

It was the culmination of a struggle — Revanth, although an established singer in the Telugu film industry, aka Tollywood, with a song to his name in the blockbuster Baahubali: The Beginning, had been mocked for his weak Hindi after he went on Indian Idol. But what he lacks, as yet, in language skills, he makes up for in resolve. “I will go back home and celebrate with my friends and family, but I will come back to Bollywood and settle here,” says the 26-year-old from Hyderabad, who got prize money of Rs 25 lakh and a contract with Universal Music.

His “big dreams” are now focussed on getting the best of both worlds. “I have one eye set on Bollywood and the other on Tollywood, but I want to work on my Hindi first,” says Revanth. “When I started my journey on Indian Idol, a lot of people laughed at me for not knowing Hindi very well. I did feel bad, initially... but I kept my willpower strong.

“I know that Bollywood is a huge industry and the number of artists is huge as well. But I want its people to recognise my talent.”