The very talented Shankar Mahadevan is all kicked to judge the new season of Zee TV’s <em>Sa Re Ga Ma Pa</em> (produced by Esselvision). He is also looking forward to this year’s franchise of the singing reality show as it is different from the previous ones in many ways. The other judges include Sajid-Wajid and Indian Ocean band member, Rahul Ram.

Aneek Dhar winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 and who was recently seen in Music Ka Maha Muqqabla is entering <a href=http://www.tellychakkar.com/news/hard-kaur-host-rockstars>IPL Rockstar</a> as a wild card entrant. Aneek says, “I have been approached to be part of the show. I am shooting on March 24. I have not prepared any song for the first performance. I will start practising soon. I have been following the show since it started and I liked this concept.”

Reality show singers may not figure in Bollywood charts but they do find alternate ways to remain in the limelight. One such option is hosting. Rahul Vaidya, Vineet Singh, Abhaas, Mouli Dave are prime examples of this. Aneek Dhar has now joined this list. The <em>Sa Re Ga Ma Pa</em> Challenge 2007 champion is all set to host <em>Sa Re Ga Ma Pa</em> Bangla. Confirming the news, Aneek says, “I will be hosting <em>Sa Re Ga Ma Pa </em>(Bangla). The shooting commences from August 25.”

Aneek Dhar and Sanchita Banerjee, winners of <em> Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007</em> and 2006 respectively, met with a near fatal accident in the outskirts of Guwahati today. The duo had performed at a show and was on their way back from Kokrajaar, around 250 kms from the city, when a speeding truck collided with their car.

In a realty show, it's always the popular candidate that wins the contest. For more than 30 weeks, Bikaner's Raja Hasan ruled the roost on <em> Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007</em>. No one evoked a bigger response from the audience and the viewers than Raja. When the winner was to be announced, 22,000 people across the stadium echoed his name. However, the name that cropped up wasn't his but that of Kolkata's Aneek Dhar.

His wild card entry attracted criticism from some quarters but at the end of the grand finale of<em> Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007</em>, Aneek Dhar was crowned the undisputed winner. The 17-year-old from Kolkata pipped Bikaner's Raja Hasan by a whopping 13 lakh votes to win the musical reality show. Apart from bagging a Rs 50 lakh contract with Zee TV and Universal Music, Aneek won a Chevrolet spark car too.