Sreeram’s house at Bowenpally wore a festive look on Monday as family members, friends and neighbours celebrated the new Indian Idol. “We knew that he was going to win. He had been performing consistently well. This is the result of the effort of the entire Andhra Pradesh. Lakhs of people sent SMSes for his victory,” his proud sister Archana said.
For Sreeram, winning the title on India’s Independence Day is liking icing on the cake. “I feel lucky that I had received my identity on a day when my country celebrates its Independence. For the rest of my life I will celebrate this day as my victory day. Getting the trophy from Mr Bachachan is again a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Sreeram said.
Sreeram’s next goal is to gain a foothold in both Bollywood and Tollywood. “I have already sung in Telugu and I hope to make a career in both Hindi and Telugu films. Actually, I don’t know what I will do. I am still trying to absorb the news at this moment,” he said.
The man of the moment, though, is not going to be satisfied with short term achievements.
“I want to be known as a versatile singer. Being versatile means I should be able to sing for any actor,” he pointed out. Talking about his Indian Idol journey he mused, “This platform has helped me grow as a human being and as a singer. I feel like a different person now. I feel far more confident than I did when I first entered the show.”
The local lad said Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar had been his idols and he liked Shankar Mahadevan too. “AR Rahman has also been an important personality... He is our international representative today, he has taken India to another level...I get inspiration from all these people,” he said. The 24-year-old has already recorded a song with Shreya Ghoshal for an upcoming movie, the music for which has been composed by Sandip-Suleman.The earlier winners of the show were Abhijeet Sawant, Sandeep Acharya, Prashant Tamang and Sourabhee Debbarma.
Telugu news channels, Telugu film stars and other celebrities had been appealing to the people to send SMSes for Sreeram, an engineering graduate and a trained classical singer. He has won several singing competitions organized by regional channels and sung for a few Telugu films before making it to the Indian Idol music reality show Season 5.
Sreeram speaks:
On his Indian Idol journey
"This platform has helped me grow as a human being and as a singer. I feel like a different person now. I feel far more confident than I did when I first entered the show."
Childhood Idols
“My childhood idols are Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Shankar Mahadevan and of course AR Rahman.”
Celebration
“I want to celebrate my victory with everyone who has supported me in this journey. Right now, I am going to party with my parents, my 13 co-contestants, the judges and the whole team. I want to rush back to Hyderabad to thank and acknowledge all those who supported me.”
Sreeram's CV
Singing career
In spite of a non musical background Sreeram Chandra had a passion towards singing and began to sing in his school days, when he bagged prizes participating at various contests. He started taking professional singing training in the college days which groomed him into a complete singer. He has performed in various music shows, and has even done playback singing for few Telegu movies. He has also participated in many Telugu reality shows like 'Sye', 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'.
Hobbies
His hobbies include sports such as football and basketball, music such as singing and playing guitar.
Playback Singing
Started playback singing at the age of 17, after winning the Ananda Raagam contest. He sung for 28 devotional albums and did many jingles Hindi private album (titled Hum).
Stage Shows
He started performing at the age of 8, and has done about 80 stage shows till now, including classical and filmy music. He has done shows with Koti, M Keeravani, Madhavpeti Suresh, Vandemataram Srinivas, Ghantadi Krishna and many more music directors.
Celebrity Supporters:
Actor Rajasekhar
I saw Sreeram singing both as a man and a woman simultaneously on the show. I also saw Aamir Khan praising him. It is certainly a great achievement. My wife, kids and I voted for him and are happy that he has won.
Actor Tanikella Bharani
It is absolutely fantastic. A tremendous achievement. I was one of the voters who wanted him to win.
Director SV Krishna Reddy
It is a proud moment for Andhra Pradesh. He is a wonderful person. I worked with him and found him to be very enthusiastic, full of energy and will power. He has fire in him and delivers exactly what the director wants. An extremely talented gentleman, he deserves the title. I am happy for him.
Actor Ali
It is a proud moment for the state. He will achieve many laurels and reach several milestones. Many congratulations to him.
RJ and Playback singer Anuj Gurwara
I am very excited. He has worked very hard to achieve this. He is extremely talented and it is a matter of great pride for the state. They have finally crowned a talent from here. His parents have unconditionally supported him. A humble pat on the back for him.
Twitter messages:
Actor Ram
Glad to see so many people happy coz Sreeram won the Indian Idol..well deserved!
Akhil Akkineni
Congrats to Sreeram. You are India’s idol!
Actor Nithin
Our south sensation Sreeram won the Indian Idol. Congratulations and I think all our support also helped him a bit.
Singer Smitha
My hearty congratulations to Sreeram for winning the Indian Idol, he made us proud.
Rana Daggubati
Congrats Sreeram for being the New Indian Idol. You make us proud!
Allu Sirish
Congratulations to Sreeram on being the Indian Idol 5 winner. May the country see many more achievers from our beloved state. Cheers!
Shreya Ghoshal, singer
Shreeram won the Indian Idol Finale? I am so happy to know that. God bless him:)
Actor Sumanth
Just heard that Sreeram won the Indian Idol contest. Very happy for him. Congrats!
Director Meher Ramesh
Congrats To AP’s pride INDIAN IDOL Sree Ram.