Mumbai, May 13 : Qazi Touqeer, who was seen alongside Arijit Singh in the 2005 reality show Fame Gurukul, has heaped praise on his former â??geniusâ?? co-contestant and said that the renowned Bollywood singer thereâ??s no corruption, insecurity, and jealousy towards anyone in him.

Qazi, who lent his voice for the song Afghan Jalebi from the 2015 film â??Phantomâ??, shared a reel video of himself from the time he spent in Arijitâ??s hometown in Jiaganj in West Bengal.

The video begins with the time they met in the show â??Fame Gurukulâ?? in 2005, to now, when he visited his hometown. In the clip, the two singers are seen riding a scooty on the roads of Jiaganj to enjoy some time together and meet people.

In the clip, Qazi said: â??That was Fame Gurukul in 2005, in Mumbai me, Arijit, and Shahid Kapoor. We were teenagers then, and now itâ??s 2026, and weâ??re still teenagers at heart. We just refused to grow up.â??

Talking about Arijit, he said: â??What can I say about Arijit? Thereâ??s no corruption in him, no insecurity, no jealousy towards anyone. He is pure passion. Heâ??s real. And yes, heâ??s a genius, we all know that. So much love to the people of Murshidabad, and especially to everyone in Jiaganj. They gave me immense love.

â??Arijitâ??s staff, his family, such beautiful people.â??

Qazi then went on to speak about Arijitâ??s â??incredibleâ?? father and shared that the singer has built an academy for kids to play cricket in Jiaganj.

Qazi added: â??Itâ??s fantastic. I got so excited that I insisted on playing cricket too. We started playing, he was bowling and I was batting. At one point, he got hit by the ball. Everyone around him got worried and asked, â??Dada, are you okay?â?? Even I thought he would stop bowling, but he just said, â??Itâ??s okay.â??â??

â??And despite getting hurt, he continued bowling for another three or four overs. Weâ??re old school like that, never-say-die attitude. He never got tired. Then later in the evening, from 8:30 PM till 1 AM, he was busy with music practice and editing work. He completely immersed himself in it.â??

Qazi concluded the video by tagging Arijit as a â??champion.â??

â??Strong in his mind, strong in his heart. Arijit and I are definitely going to do something different and fun together,â?? he concluded.

/IANS