From a contestant on Indian Idol to a judge now, singer Neha Kakkar has come a long way. Yesterday during the premiere of the show, Neha, now mostly associated with party numbers, revealed that she used to sing devotional songs with her sister Sonu of “Babuji zara dheere chalo” fame at one point of time. Neha had entered the music industry as a contestant on “Indian Idol” season two. And now, she is back to the show, this time as one of the judges.

During the Delhi auditions of the show, Neha got pleasantly surprised when one of the aspirants introduced himself as the son of Jagdish Chugh, with whom she had worked with in her childhood days when she used to sing in jagrans.

Getting nostalgic, she narrated how she and Sonu would sing devotional songs along with Chugh’s band, read a statement. The “Sunny sunny” hitmaker remembered how the Chugh family had helped them during difficult times. She was moved to tears as Mrs. Chugh came on the stage and showered praises on her for being devoted to music from an early age.

“I was overwhelmed with emotions when I saw Mr. Chugh’s son in front of me. The moment I realised who he was, I couldn’t hold back my tears and the wave of memories from my yester-years,” Neha said.

“With moist eyes, I remembered how during difficult times the Chugh family had helped us. Mrs. Chugh appreciated my dedication towards singing and reminisced how along with my sister, I would arrive as early as 5 a.m. to sing and earn a sum of Rs 500. It was a touching moment for me and I could see everyone on the set smiling with tears in their eyes.” “Indian Idol 10” premiered on Sony Entertainment Television on Saturday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2018 09:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).