Who Won India’s Got Talent 7?

MEET FLUTE PLAYER SULEMAN, THE 13-YEAR-OLD WINNER OF INDIA’S GOT TALENT 7

With just a flute, a 13-year-old boy from Amritsar had both Bollywood and the national audience following his tune. Suleman emerged the winner on the seventh edition of India Got Talent on Saturday night after being voted as the best by viewers.

Suleman received a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh, a Maruti Suzuki Celerio car and a specially crafted trophy engraved with the signatures of show’s jury members, which comprised of celebrated names like Kirron Kher, Malaika Arora Khan and Karan Johar.

The latest season, which began airing on April 30, was presented by comedian Bharti Singh and actor Siddharth Shukla. Filmmaker Karan Johar, and actors Kirron Kher and Malaika Arora Khan were on the judges panel.

In the grand finale, Suleman had to compete against season favourites Incredible Mallakhamb, Akash & Atharva and Antara and Papai.

“I am so happy I finally won India’s Got Talent. It is a huge achievement for me. I guess Antara and Papai, too, deserved to win. Their performance was beautiful,” an elated Suleman told Hindustan Times.

Elated about his win, Suleiman said, “Winning the show is my biggest achievement as it made my father’s dream come true. The show has given me a platform to showcase my talent in front of the world and the opportunity to pursue my talent further. I would like to thank my father and my guru Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiaji without whom I wouldn’t have reached here.”

The youngster’s musical proclivity comes from his parents; both his mother and father are professional musicians. While Suleman takes after his father, a flute player, his sister took after his mother, who plays the harmonium. Taking to the wind instrument at the age of three, he now trains under Pt Hariprasad Chaurasiya.

Though he cited AR Rahman and singer Arijit Singh as his idols, his best moment from the show was meeting Salman Khan during the actor’s promotion of his latest film Sultan.

“I did not get the time to talk to him individually but meeting him in person was a great achievement for me,” he said.

So any showbiz plans in the offing? The young teenager said he wanted to finish his studies before entering the industry.

After learning flute he started performing in programs in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, and Ahmedabad.