Latest news with #IndianIdol4
Pink Villa
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
'Indian audiences aren't ready to have a pregnant host', Mini Mathur recalls being told this while expecting first child during Indian Idol 4
Mini Mathur is a popular face in the entertainment industry who has hosted numerous reality shows. The actress is best known for hosting Indian Idol, the popular singing reality show, which is also one of the longest-running reality shows. She was the host of this singing reality show for many seasons. Recently, Mini opened up on being told not to host Indian Idol as she was pregnant with her first child. Mini Mathur reveals why she didn't host Indian Idol 4 In conversation with Vickey Lalwani, Mini Mathur was asked why she got bored with hosting Indian Idol. She instantly replied, "I didn't get bored with Indian Idol, they changed the host after Season 6." Mini Mathur disclosed, "I was only upset with one thing, only once. When I was in Season 4, when I was expecting my daughter, they said 'I don't think Indian audiences are ready to have a pregnant host.' The actress emphasised how her identity is linked with Indian Idol, and she was very popular as their host. She elaborated that internationally, there are pregnant hosts of all kinds of shows. Mathur added, "I just felt very very upset. So what if I am pregnant? How does that change anything? That season I missed out on, and I came back in Season 6, but I was a little upset about that." She mentioned that Season 6 was her last season. When asked if she decided to opt out of Indian Idol, Mini refused, saying, "I hadn't. They just changed the host, and I was okay with that." Mini Mathur recalls being told to create a moment Mini recalled how she was once asked to create a moment on a reality show, which left her frustrated. Recalling her stint in Indian Idol 1, Mini said, "When we started Indian Idol 1, there was no such thing as moment create karna hai. Moments got created because we were real, genuine. These things were happening in front of our eyes." The actor continued, "We didn't structure them, we did engineer them. The moment you ask me to engineer an emotion and pretend that it just happened, I am out of it, I don't want to do it. Because I want to be real. I can't be an actor on a reality show." She recalled being rattled by this incident and stated that many reality shows started copying each other and wanted to make audiences cry. For the uninformed, Indian Idol's 15th season concluded on April 6, 2025.
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
From Indian Idol stage to officiating Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni as IPL umpire: The unusual journey of Parashar Joshi
When umpire Parashar Joshi officiated at the Women's Premier League (WPL) last year, he became the subject of many a meme as several fans talked about his resemblance to cricketer Shreyas Iyer. But Parashar has something in common with Shreyas. He has played the game too, but not at the highest-level. A former club level cricketer, Parashar is a man who wears many hats; and the one that first got him noticed was that of a singer. And it happened on Indian Idol, of all places. Parashar auditioned for Indian Idol right from the first season. But after three rejections, he eventually made it to the piano round (as the second round was then called) on season 4, back in 2008. Parashar still has the video of his appearance on Indian Idol on Instagram. In a post he shared in 2023, he wrote, "18th Oct 2008. 15 years!! How time flies!! If only the 23-yr-old me knew then what an adventure the next 15 years were gonna be." Parashar made it to the final round of Indian Idol 4, only to exit soon after. He continued singing, while also playing cricket alongside. A post shared by Parashar Joshi (@thesingerwhorides) Parashar still performs across India, and creates new music and covers of old songs too. In 2023, he shared the stats of his streams on Spotify, adding gratefully that his music had 13k listeners on the platform from 48 countries. The Pune lad had played club cricket since he was a teenager, even before he auditioned for Indian Idol. But by 2005, Parashar had realised he would never make it to the top level. He still kept playing to maintain physical fitness and to stay in touch with the game he loved. In 2015, he was selected in BCCI's panel of umpires. The 30-year-old went to officiate in domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy, before making it big with the WPL in 2024. In 2025, he was among the seven new umpires the BCCI introduced for the Indian Premier League (IPL). On April 5, he officiated his first IPL game between MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and KL Rahul's Delhi Capitals. He has since stood in games featuring the top stars of Indian and world cricket, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Andre Russell, Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Marsh, and many more. Parashar's social media bio reveals that apart from cricket and singing, he has one more love - biking. His Instagram is full of videos of his ride, which he does in between umpiring and singing gigs.
