By lalit Mohan : In what turned out to be a nail-biting finish to the 9-week journey of Zee TV’s singing reality show for TV celebrities – Maruti Suzuki Alto Star Ya Rockstar, actor Manasi Parekh was declared the winner. Manasi clinched the coveted ‘Rockstar’ trophy, beating fellow finalists – veteran actor-producer Sachin Pilgaonkar and comedian Kapil Sharma. It was a combination of top scores by judges Anu Malik, Alisha Chinai and the highest votes from the public that drove Manasi towards her victory.
Manasi was not only extremely consistent with the quality of her performances week on week but had bowled the audience over with the sheer diversity and range of songs she chose to sing. Be it pop, rock, soulful melodies or classical taranas, Manasi hit one six after another, leaving her fans begging for more. Forever challenging herself with difficult songs that require immense preparation, Manasi had heartthrobs John Abraham, Akshay Kumar & Ranveer Singh praising her to the skies!
Speaking of her victory, Manasi said, “I used to sing as well as act before Star Ya Rockstar … but this platform has taught me how to merge the two skill sets and come up with strong performances where you rock the stage by living out a song in its entirety. You have to be able to project the mood and the energy of the song and convey the core emotions at its heart to be a rockstar as against just a singer! I am thrilled to have won the show but above all, I cosnider myself very fortunate to have come in touch with iconic achievers like Sachin ji and multifacted stars like Kapil Sharma, Sumeet Raghavan and Chhavi Mittal through the show. They made this journey very memorable and full of learnings!”
The Grand finale of Star Ya Rockstar was a musical extravaganza no music buff can afford to miss. Making his very first appearance on national television in India with a rocking rendition of his current cult hit ‘Kolaveri Di’, Tamil singer-actor Dhanush dazzled the audience and had them singing along. Matching Dhanush step for step and note for note as he performed to the popular ditty was the talented boy genius music composer of the popular – Aniruddh. Several other celebrity guests including Mithun Da, ace music director duo Vishal-Shekhar, DID trio Geeta Kapur, Remo Dsouza, Terence Lewis alongside DID stars like Shakti Mohan & Dharmesh, Binny Sharma, Salman, Jay Kumar Nair & Prince, singers Master Saleem and Hardeep Kaur, comedians Rajeev-Saloni watched India’s Top 3 celebrity singers – Sachin Pilgaonkar, Kapil Sharma & Manasi Parekh battle it out for the coveted title of ‘Rockstar’.
While most of the celebrity guests came forth and regaled the cheering audience with their own comedy and musical acts, it was Dhanush-Anirudh’s Kolaveri Di that sparked off the most masti. what with finalist Manasi Parekh following up the act with a Gujarati version of the same number, Kapil Sharma throwing in a Punjabi Kolaveri Di and contestant Sumeet Raghavan performing his own special ‘Star Ya Rockstar’ version that poked fun at the show’s anchor Mona Singh with funny lyrics like ‘Why does Mona wear only Saree?’
Hosted by the charming Mona Singh, Star Ya Rockstar began its journey with nine renowned TV celebrities – Ragini Khanna, Neha Marda, Vikas Bhalla, Sumeet Raghavan, Manish Paul, Chhavi Mittal, Manasi Parekh, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Debina Bonnerjee and Kapil Sharma singing their hearts out to prove their vocal abilities and performing skills to the judges Anu Malik and Alisha Chinai and the viewers at home. After long weeks of battling each other, three talented singers Sachin, Kapil and Manasi locked horns in the final leg of the race and the immensely gifted powerhouse performer Manasi Parekh took home the Rockstar crown and a Maruti Suzuki Alto car as the grand prize!