‘My x-factor is my confidence’

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She came, she sang, she conquered and how. Anjana Padmanabhan, the 10-year-old nightingale from Bengaluru, who was crowned the first Indian Idol Junior 2013 by Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday night, is a testament to the fact that music knows no language. Even Shah Rukh Khan complimented the bubbly, chirpy chhoti si ladki saying, “One needs to have a heart to sing and not the language.” Judge Shreya Ghoshal called her kudrat ka karishma apart from countless compliments from stars, friends and well wishers coming her way.
We ask Laddoo — as she is fondly called — on the edge she had over others and pat comes the reply, “My x-factor is my confidence. I was having fun all the way and not singing only for winning it. The grand finale was on such a massive scale with Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor and Ramcharan. The competition was tough. I wasn’t sure I would win; I was just giving my best and enjoying every moment. When Amitabh Bachchan congratulated me, I almost pinched myself to believe that it was happening for real. I’m a huge fan of AB and have watched a lot of his films. My mother almost went mad when they announced my name.”
Anjana set the stage on fire with her scintillating performances and received prize money of `25 lakh from Sony Entertainment Television, a Nissan Micra Car, a fixed deposit of `5 lakh from Kotak and `2 lakh from Horlicks.
So, what is the fifth standard student planning to do with all the money at this tender age, we prod. But the cute Tamilian seems unfazed.
“I’m just giving it all to my parents, who will decide what they want to do with it. I just want to relax for a few days and want my parents to take me to Wonder La. Also I want to celebrate by drinking lots of soft drinks and eat lots of pani puri as all these days I couldn’t have it. I’ve been in Mumbai since my summer holidays and I am going back to Bengaluru. I have made so many friends here and my best friend is Sugandha from Nagpur.”
With a firm head on her shoulders, she goes on to thank, “My dad, Padmanabhan, who works with a software firm is very passionate about music and helped me a lot with my songs, besides my teacher Akila in Carnatic and Shriman Pandit Hegde in Hindustani classical. Also, I have been talking to everyone only in Hindi now,” reveals the first Indian Idol Junior winner.