3 min readNew DelhiJan 28, 2026 09:28 PM IST
With the news of singer Arijit Singh’s retirement from playback singing going viral, his fans have turned to nostalgia to console themselves. Before Arijit became a behemoth of his craft, he was once a contestant on a singing reality show called Fame Gurukul. The show was the Indian adaptation of UK’s Fame Academy, where young singers were trained and prepared for competition. Arijit was eliminated from the show and had a rough ride during the competition.
Contestants were eliminated on the basis of votes – by fans and their co-contestants. During one of the episodes, Arijit decided to vote out his friend, contestant Shamit Tyagi. The two had developed a strong bond during their time on the show. This sparked controversy, and Arijit was called in by Ila Arun, the headmistress of the Gurukul, who questioned Arijit’s move and his intentions. A scared Arijit started crying almost immediately when Ila refused to let him touch her feet.
She told him, “If you sing beautifully but don’t act the part in your personal life, I can’t stand that. Main kaise baat karu (How do I even talk to you)? Do relationships matter to you at all? You have talked about so many relations here, and if I am just a teacher to you, do we not have a relationship beyond that? I used to think that people were wrong about you. Are you really the kind of person who will cut all ties when he makes it big?”
Referring to a conversation she had with Javed Akhtar, a judge on the show, she added, “Javed bhai told me, ‘Isse achi tarah se baat kariye. Yeh agar star ban gaya toh apni car ki dhul ki tarah…’ (Talk to him nicely. If he becomes a star one day, he’ll treat us like smoke from his car. ” Arijit cut her off at this point and said that he considers Ila to be like a mother to him. Ila then gave him the recording of Shamit being interviewed after Arijit voted him out. Seeing the clip, Arijit started crying incessantly as he saw Shamit in utter disbelief about being voted out.
Ila later came and consoled Arijit. She told him that he needs to become a good human being first and then focus on his singing. The 17-year-old Arijit said that if Shamit faces any problem in his career, he’ll help him out.
However, this incident soured the public’s image of Arijit, and the singer was voted out soon after. He got the 6th rank on the show. Qazi Touqeer and Ruprekha Banerjee ended up winning the competition and received a music contract from Sony worth Rs 1 crore, along with a Maruti Suzuki Alto. Arijit would later go on to beat the winners of both Fame Gurukul and Indian Idol in a show called 10 ke 10 Le Gaye Dil, securing a Rs 10 lakh cash prize.
