Indian Idol 12: Javed Akhtar criticised for praising Shanmukhapriya, gets called 'sellout'

Indian Idol 12 contestant Shanmukhapriya continues to receive contempt from the show's audience. This time around, guest Javed Akhtar found himself receiving criticism as well. Akhtar had been invited for a special episode on the show, titled Tribute to Javed Sahab. 

 Shanmukhapriya chose to sing Kishore Kumar's Main Hoon Jhoom Jhoom Jhumroo from the movie Jhumroo for her performance. Her performance received a huge round of applause from all the judges. Guest judge Javed Akhtar, in fact, had some special things to say. "I have seen a lot of your songs on YouTube and today saw you perform live. Continue to work the way you are. You have a very bright future ahead of you", said the celebrated lyricist. On the other hand, the contestant failed to impress the show's viewers. Here's what they had to say. 

Indian Idol 12's Shanmukhapriya and guest Javed Akhtar get trolled for the show's recent episode

Shanmukhpriya found herself on the end of criticism by the audience, once again. Twitteratti claimed that she was howling, screaming and not singing melodiously. Many even called Javed Akhtar, a sellout for praising the contestant. The audience even asked for the singer to be eliminated from the competition. One fan claimed that the good singers were getting eliminated instead. Another fan questioned Akhtar's judgement saying he should have given her pointers on her singing instead of showering her with compliments.  

Earlier this month, Shanmukhapriya was criticised for her performance on Chura Liya Hai. She ended up improvising the song to her interest. This angered fans who wished for the contestant to be eliminated from the show. Some fans even called it one of the worst versions of the song, which was originally sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by RD Burman. 

The show and the contestant haven't yet addressed this major criticism from fans. The show's host Aditya Narayan, though, has cryptically mentioned the situation multiple times. According to a report by SpotBoyE, earlier this month he mentioned how singing Kishore Kumar's songs wasn't easy. Not only this, but Aditya had also posted a cryptic Instagram post on his handle. He shared an image himself on the sets of the show and added the caption which read "Kucch Toh Log Kahenge" which roughly translates to "People will always say something".

• Image: Shanmukhapriya and Zoya Akhtar's Instagram