Bhubaneswar: Rituraj Mohanty, the winner of Star Plus reality show India's Raw Star, rocked a huge crowd of fans at the Janata Maidan here on Sunday night, his first performance in Odisha's capital.
As Rituraj sang "Teri Galiyan.." the crowd swayed to his performance, with some of them trying to break the barricades.
The event which was to begin at 7 pm, saw the roads leading from Jaidev Vihar to Kalinga Hospital square chock-a-bloc two hours earlier.
Frenzied fans broke through the cordon and rushed towards the dais to shake hands with Rituraj, because of which the show had to be postponed for nearly half an hour.
The event was organised as part of Toshali National Crafts Fair. Rituraj's parents and brother, alongwith a large number of families from his village were present at the show.
Bijoy Kumar Patnaik, retired Chief Secretary and member of Odisha Human Rights Commission, Handloom and Textile Secretary Chitra Arumugam and Director of Textiles Debendra Prasad Das felicitated the reality show winner.
Rituraj told the gathering: "Like you, I used to come to this fair every year, stand in a corner and watch others sing. Today, your love and affection has brought me here on the dais. I thank you all from the depth of my heart."
A lad from Puri district's Nimapara, Rituraj learnt Hindustani classical music at Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar. He stopped singing after an accident, but later left for Mumbai in search of a break.
He had sung "Sahib" in the Bollywood movie Bhootnath Returns, and Aam Ke Aam Honge on the serial Satyamev Jayate-2.
