Indian Idol is an iconic Hindi-language singing reality show which airs on Sony Entertainment Television. It is adapted from the British show, Pop Idol, and is currently produced by ARSenic’s Business and Fremantle Media. However, the show was originally produced by Miditech Studios led by Niret Alva, Nikhil Alva and Nivedith Alva. The format involves auditions across India to discover talented singers, followed by theatre rounds, live performances and public voting under the supervision of a set of judges to determine the winner.
Indian Idol is one of India’s longest-running and most popular musical reality shows. Commencing in the year 2004, the show has completed 15 seasons and is currently in its 16th season.
| Season | Year | Winner | Judge | Host |
| 1 | 2004-05 | Abhijeet Sawant | Anu Malik, Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam | Aman Verma, Mini Mathur |
| 2 | 2005-06 | Sandeep Acharya | Anu Malik, Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam | Aman Verma, Mini Mathur |
| 3 | 2007 | Prashant Tamang | Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar, Alisha Chinai, Udit Narayan | Hussain Kuwajerwala, Mini Mathur |
| 4 | 2008-09 | Sourabhee Debbarma | Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar, Sonali Bendre, Kailash Kher | Hussain Kuwajerwala, Mini Mathur |
| 5 | 2010 | Sreerama Chandra Mynampati | Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Salim Merchant | Hussain Kuwajerwala, Abhijeet Sawant |
| 6 | 2012 | Vipul Mehta | Anu Malik, Asha Bhosle, Sunidhi Chauhan, Salim Merchant | Hussain Kuwajerwala, Mini Mathur |
| 7 | 2013 | Anjana Padmanabhan | Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjivani | Mandira Bedi, Karan Wahi |
| 8 | 2015 | Ananya Nanda | Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant, Sonakshi Sinha,
Shalmali Kholgade(replaced) |
Hussain Kuwajerwala, Asha Negi |
| 9 | 2016-17 | L.V. Revanth | Anu Malik, Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam | Karan Wahi, Paritosh Tripathi |
| 10 | 2018 | Salman Ali | Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar, Javed Ali | Manish Paul |
| 11 | 2019-20 | Sunny Hindustani | Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar, Himesh Reshammiya | Aditya Narayan |
| 12 | 2020-21 | Pawandeep Rajan | Himesh Reshammiya, Sonu Kakkar, Anu Malik | Aditya Narayan
Bharti Singh Harsh Limbachiyaa Rithvik Dhanjani Jay Bhanushali |
| 13 | 2022-23 | Rishi Singh | Himesh Reshammiya, Vishal Dadlani | Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiyaa
Aditya Narayan |
| 14 | 2023-24 | Vaibhav Gupta | Vishal Dadlani, Shreya Ghoshal | Hussain Kuwajerwala |
| 15 | 2024-25 | Manasi Ghosh | Vishal Dadlani, Shreya Ghoshal, Badshah | Aditya Narayan |
Indian Idol Season 1 Winner – Abhijeet Sawant
Indian Idol Season 1 hit the small screens on 30th October 2004 and continued till the grand finale on 5th March 2005. The show was judged by singer Sonu Nigam, film director Farah Khan and music director Anu Malik. Hosts in the debut season of Indian Idol were television actor Aman Verma and actress and model Mini Mathur.
The first winner of Indian Idol was Abhijeet Sawant. He won a prize money of INR 50 lakh. Amit Sana was the runner up. Contestants who made it to the top included Rahul Vaidya, Prajakta Shukre, Ravinder Ravi and Amit Tandon.
Indian Idol Season 2 Winner – Sandeep Acharya
Indian Idol returned with its second season on 21st November 2005 and continued till 22nd April 2006. It ran for a total of 28 episodes. Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam continued as judges in this season as well. The show was once again hosted by Aman Verma and Mini Mathur.
Sandeep Acharya emerged as the winner of Indian Idol Season 2. He took home a prize money of INR 1 crore. N.C. Karunya was the runner up. Notable contestants in the season included Anuj Sharma, Ameya Date, Antara Mitra and Meenal Jain.
Indian Idol Season 3 Winner – Prashant Tamang
Third season of Indian Idol was first aired on 4th May 2007 and the show continued till 23rd September 2007. Anu Malik continued as one of the judges but Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam were replaced by lyricist Javed Akhtar and singers Alisha Chinai and Udit Narayan. There was also a change in hosts, with model and actor Hussain Kuwajerwala teaming up with Mini Mathur.
Winner of the Indian Idol Season 3 was Prashant Tamang. He won a prize money of INR 1 crore. Amit Paul was the runner up. Other top contestants included Meiyang Chang, Emon Chatterjee and Ankita Mishra.
Indian Idol Season 4 Winner – Sourabhee Debbarma
Indian Idol Season 4 commenced on 19th September 2008 and ended on 1st March 2009. While Anu Malik and Javed Akhtar continued as judges in this season, Alisha Chinai and Udit Narayan were replaced by Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre and singer Kailash Kher. Hussain Kuwajerwala and Mini Mathur continued to host the show.
Sourabhee Debbarma emerged as the first female winner of Indian Idol since its inception in 2004. She won a prize money of INR 1 crore and a Tata Winger car. As a part of her contract with Sony, Debbarma released a music album, Meherban.
Indian Idol Season 5 Winner – Sreerama Chandra Mynampati
Indian Idol Season 5 first premiered on 26th April 2010 and ended on 15th August 2010. This season comprised of a total of 42 episodes. While Anu Malik continued as a judge, Sonali Bendre and Kailash Kher were replaced by singer Sunidhi Chauhan and music composer Salim Merchant. Hussain Kuwajerwala returned as the host, however Mini Mathur was replaced by Abhijeet Sawant, the first winner of Indian Idol.
Sreerama Chandra Mynampati was declared the winner of Indian Idol Season 5. He won a prize money of INR 50 lakh. Bhoomi Trivedi and Rakesh Maini were the joint runners up.
Indian Idol Season 6 Winner – Vipul Mehta
Sixth season of Indian Idol commenced on 1st June 2012 and continued till 1st September 2012. The season lasted for a total of 30 episodes. The legendary singer Asha Bhosle joined the show as a judge, alongside Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Salim Merchant. Mini Mathur returned to host the show along with Hussain Kuwajerwala.
Vipul Mehta emerged as the winner of Indian Idol Season 6. He bagged a prize money of INR 50 lakh. Amit Kumar and Devender Pal Singh shared the position of runner up. Other top contestants included Poorvi Kautish and Sohini Mishra.
Indian Idol Season 7 Winner – Anjana Padmanabhan
Indian Idol Season 7 was the first season of Indian Idol Junior involving children. It started on 1st June 2013 and ended on 1st September 2013. The show was judged by singer Shreya Ghoshal, music composer Vishal Dadlani and music director Shekhar Ravjivani. Hosts for this season were actress Mandira Bedi and model/actor Karan Wahi.
Anjana Padmanabhan became the first Indian Idol Junior. She won a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Deebanjana Karmakar was the first runner up, while Anmol Jaswal emerged as the second runner up.
Indian Idol Season 8 Winner – Ananya Nanda
Indian Idol Season 8 was the second season of Indian Idol Junior. Its first episode was aired on 30th May 2015, while the last episode premiered on 6th September 2015. Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and actress Sonakshi Sinha were the judges. Singer Shalmali Kholgade initially appeared as a judge but was later replaced by Sonakshi Sinha. The show was hosted by Hussain Kuwajerwala and actress Asha Negi.
Ananya Nanda emerged as the second Indian Idol Junior. She took home a prize money of INR 10 lakh. Nahid Afrin was the first runner up, while Nithyashree Venkataramanan was adjudged the second runner up.
Indian Idol Season 9 Winner – L.V. Revanth
Indian Idol Season 9 started on 18th December 2016 and ended on 2nd April 2017. While Anu Malik continued as a judge, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam returned to the show as other two judges, thereby completing the ensemble of the first two seasons. The hosts for this season were Karan Wahi and Paritosh Tripathi.
L.V. Revanth won the Indian Idol Season 9 title. He was awarded a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Khuda Baksh and PVNS Rohit were first and second runner up respectively.
Indian Idol Season 10 Winner – Salman Ali
Tenth season of Indian Idol commenced on 7th July 2018 and continued till 23rd December 2018. The season ran for a total of 50 episodes. Judges in this season were Anu Malik, Vishal Dadlani and singer Neha Kakkar. However, Anu Malik was later replaced by singer Javed Ali, following MeToo allegations against the former. The show was hosted by model and actor Manish Paul.
Salman Ali emerged as the winner of Indian Idol Season 10. He won a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Ankush Bharadwaj became the first runner up, while Neelanjana Ray was the second runner up.
Indian Idol Season 11 Winner – Sunny Hindustani
Indian Idol Season 11 first premiered on 12th October 2019, with the final episode telecasted on 23rd February 2020. This season lasted for 40 episodes. Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar and Anu Malik returned as judges. However, Anu Malik was replaced by singer Himesh Reshammiya due to popular outcry against him. The show was hosted by singer Aditya Narayan.
Sunny Hindustani won the Indian Idol Season 11 title. He was awarded a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Rohit Shyam Raut was the first runner up, while Ankona Mukherjee became the second runner up.
Indian Idol Season 12 Winner – Pawandeep Rajan
Indian Idol Season 12 commenced on 28th November 2020 and ended on 15th August 2021. This was the longest ever season, with 75 episodes. Although, the original panel of judges comprised of Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar and Himesh Reshammiya, when the shoot shifted out of Mumbai, Dadlani and Kakkar opted out of the show and were replaced by Sonu Kakkar and Anu Malik.
Original host of this season was Aditya Narayan. However, he contracted Covid-19 and was replaced by comedian Bharti Singh, producer and television host Harsh Limbachiyaa, actor Rithvik Dhanjani and television actor Jay Bhanushali.
Pawandeep Rajan emerged as the winner of Indian Idol Season 12. He won a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Arunita Kanjilal and Sayli Kamble Patil were adjudged the first and second runner up respectively.
Indian Idol Season 13 Winner – Rishi Singh
Indian Idol Season 13 first aired on 10th September 2022, with the last episode premiering on 2nd April 2023. This was the second longest season, with 60 episodes. Himesh Reshammiya and Vishal Dadlani were the judges for the entire season. Neha Kakkar initially appeared as a judge but left the show later. Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiyaa continued as guest hosts before being replaced by Aditya Narayan.
Rishi Singh won the Indian Idol Season 13 title. He took home a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Deboshmita Roy was the first runner up, while Chirag Kotwal became the second runner up.
Indian Idol Season 14 Winner – Vaibhav Gupta
Indian Idol Season 14 hit the small screens on 7th October 2023 and continued till 3rd March 2024. It ran for a total of 43 episodes. The theme of this season was Ek Awaaz Laakhon Ehsas or One Voice Million Emotions. Judges for this season were Vishal Dadlani and singer Shreya Ghoshal. Hussain Kuwajerwala hosted the show, with Aditya Narayan appearing for a few episodes.
Vaibhav Gupta won the Indian Idol Season 14 title. He was awarded a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Shubhadeep Das Choudhary finished as the runner up.
Indian Idol Season 15 Winner – Manasi Ghosh
Indian Idol Season 15 first premiered on 26th October 2024, with the season ending on 6th April 2025. It ran for a total of 48 episodes. The theme of this season was Jo Gayega, Wo Nazar Ayega. Judges for this season were Vishal Dadlani, Shreya Ghoshal and rockstar and rapper Badshah. The show was hosted by Aditya Narayan.
Manasi Ghosh secured the title of Indian Idol Season 15. She won a prize money of INR 25 lakh. Shubhajit Chakraborty finished as the runner up.
Indian Idol Season 16 Winner – TBA
Indian Idol Season 16, premiered on October 18, 2025, on Sony TV, embraces the nostalgic theme “Yaadon Ki Playlist”, blending timeless classics with fresh voices. Hosted by Aditya Narayan, the show features judges Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani, and Badshah.
Show is still running so stay tuned and we will update the winner as soon as the result comes.