When Neha Kakkar got emotional on seeing her old landlord’s son audition for Indian Idol: ‘Hum bahut hi gareeb the’

Singer Neha Kakkar turns 34 on Monday. Once rejected from Indian Idol, Neha became one of the most popular singers in India over the last few years and even went on to judge the same show from which she had been eliminated. Apart from her hits such as Manali Trance, Garmi and Aankh Maarey, Neha also found a large fan-following for herself as a judge on Indian Idol. (Also read: Neha Kakkar performs Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Oo Antava on the beach, husband Rohanpreet Singh calls her ‘hottie’. Watch)

On the show, Neha came to be known for her sensitive heart and emotional side. She would often break into tears on learning about the contestants’ hardships. However, once on the show, Neha broke into tears while remembering her own past.

In an episode from the show’s 10th season which premiered in 2018, Neha Kakkar joined the judges’ panel with music composers Vishal Dadlani and Anu Malik. A young man entered the stage and introduced himself. Soon, Neha realised that he was the son of her old landlord, who had died recently. She explained to her co-judges, “Me and Sonu didi (Sonu Kakkar, her elder sister), when we used to sing at jagrans, his father also did many jagrans. He had a band and we used to sing for him. We were really young. In fact, we have even lived at their house. Oh my God.” Anu Malik marvelled at the coincidence of it all.

She added, “Kitne dukh ke baat hai. Us waqt hum kaafi gareeb hua karte the, bahut hi zaada gareeb the humlog. Us waqt kaafi help bhi ki thi inke papa ne. Inke papa mummy hume khana khilate the, hum inke ghar pe rehte the kuch dino ke liye (It’s such a sad thing. We used to be so poor back then. His dad helped us a lot, fed us and even allowed us to stay with him).” Neha also expressed regret at not being able to meet the contestant’s father.

Neha asked the contestant to sing in the memory of his father. He sang Mann Ki Lagan from Paap. During the performance, Neha broke into tears. Afterwards, the contestant’s mother also joined the stage. She recalled how Neha and Sonu sang at jagrans and Sonu even had her own poster. “We would sing all night. More than me, the credit goes to Sonu didi. She was so young when she started singing. If I am a singer, it was only because of her,” she said.

Not just Neha and Sonu, their brother Tony Kakkar is also a music composer and singer. Earlier, Tony had spoken about how even when she was still in Rishikesh, she would send funds to him and Sonu when they were struggling in Mumbai. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror about his sister in 2020, Tony said, “Initially, only I and Sonu shifted to Mumbai, and Neha still used to perform in Rishikesh. The biggest task for us in Mumbai was house-hunting. We didn’t have enough money to buy a house so we used to stay in a small rented apartment. But the rent was skyrocketing and we had no fixed income as such. For the very first recording, Sonu got ₹500. The amount then kept on increasing steadily and somehow we managed to survive. Neha also sent us money from there.”