Indian Idol 13: Amit Kumar returns for Kishore Kumar special episode, one year after criticising show and its singers

The upcoming episode of the singing reality show Indian Idol 13 will feature singer Amit Kumar as the special guest. The occasion is a Kishore Kumar tribute episode on the show, which will feature the contestants paying tribute to the late singer in front of his son, Amit. It might seem like déjà vu because Amit had been the special guest on Indian Idol 12’s Kishore Kumar special too, and had later called it bad. Also read: Amit Kumar admits he ‘did not enjoy’ Kishore Kumar tribute on Indian Idol 12

Sony TV, the channel that airs Indian Idol, shared a promo of the upcoming episode on Instagram on Thursday evening. The video shows Amit arriving on the show’s sets followed by the contestants singing some of the most memorable songs of Kishore Kumar. After Bidipta’s performance, Amit even croons two lines of his song Keh Do Ki Tum from Tezaab along with her. Amit also shared an anecdote about the song telling everyone that music composer Laxmikant had predicted the song would go big when they were recording it.

Amit had appeared on the Kishore Kumar special episode of the show’s previous season in May 2021 as well. After the episode aired, many viewers criticised the quality of singing and accused the contestant of ‘ruining’ Kishore’s songs. In a subsequent interview with the Times of India, Amit claimed he did not like the performances as well and was asked to praise everyone. “Frankly, I wanted to stop the episode. I did what I was told. I was told jo jaisa bhi gaaye usko uplift karna hai (however one sings they should be praised) because it’s a tribute to Kishore da. I thought it will be a homage to my father. But once there, I just followed what I was asked to do.

Amit Kumar sang several successful songs between the 1970s and 90s before he withdrew from playback singing temporarily to focus on live performances. Kishore Kumar is considered one of the finest playback singers India has produced. He died in 1987. Indian Idol 13 airs every weekend on Sony TV.