'I think awards are for a different breed of singers'
He came to Bombay eight years ago to try his luck as a singer. Now at 26, Sonu Nigam seems to have seen it all the vagaries of composers, filmstars and music companies, not to mention the awards committees.
Sonu is mature far beyond his years, which is evident in the way he speaks and anchors the popular programme, Sa Re Ga Ma on television. His boyish good looks has earned him a massive fan following, especially among women. Mothers want him for a son while young ladies just want him! He grins as he acknowledges this. His telephone is inundated with calls, so much so that he refuses to pick up the phone at any cost. The young singer, however, shrugs it off by saying that "if you're successful, you become attractive."
Sonu is the only son of Agam Kumar Nigam, a popular singer in North India. Ever since he was a child, Sonu heard the strains of music ringing through the house. No wonder he developed a liking for music early on. "I used to be a very naughty and fiery kid. I’m a Leo, you see, and I used to insist on singing each time my father had a concert, " recalls Sonu. "Dad had to keep telling mum 'control him,' because otherwise I'd run onto the stage and insist on standing in front of the mike. And I hated to be thwarted. I didn't really train in music, it was always part of me. I gave my first public performance at the
age of three. So, I've been singing for 23 years now!" Perhaps, his own understanding of music is superior to many of those
who come as judges in his show. Sonu himself, though, refuses to admit this. Don't the judges sometimes get flummoxed, specially in the chord round, you ask him. "Rarely, but it does happen," he concedes.
"It's strange -- chords are something that should be an inherent part of musical understanding, but it doesn't seem to be so. You either understand them or you don't. Most people do. If some judges dont, then we work out a strategy whereby I have a particular expression which says this is right and another one which says this is wrong!" When he shifted to Bombay, Sonu didn't find the going easy. He got some work, but it was nothing to write home about. Nobody was willing to take this 17-and-a-half-year-old lad too seriously. Till he met the late Gulshan Kumar of T-series.
After Gulshan Kumar heard him sing a dummy for one of his films, he was impressed. When he met Sonu and realised how young he was, the music magnate took him under his wings.
Sonu started singing cover versions of popular songs by Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey. At this time, he was accused of tarnishing the image of the original singer. "I think it harms the composer and the music company more because the song belongs to them. Why should it harm the singer? The song doesn't belong to them." But, we insist, it's the singer who has made the song so popular, isn't it? "Yes, but most people end up thinking it's being sung by the original singer, so the credit still goes to them!" replies Sonu.
He does concede though, that this is not something to be lauded. " If we had a better system, this sort of thing wouldn't have happened at all. I had to do this because I had no other work. I had to take up whatever was being offered to me in order to survive. I haven't sung a cover version for two-and-a-half-years nows and I will not do it again," he promises.
At the same time, he adds, "I must admit I loved singing the numbers by all these great singers since it was like a training ground for me. To understand how they enunciated a certain phrase, how they rendered a song with emotion -- it helped me study their styles and learn from them. So I see it as a wonderful net practice." It's only recently that Sonu has gained popularity as a pop artiste. He says ruefully, "I wasn't very lucky when I came in. I wish I had come in now because I wouldn't have had to struggle so much.
Today music companies are willing to invest a lot of money on introducing and promoting new singers, it's so much easier to get known. I found it difficult to even gain access to people in my early days here." Sonu spends a lot of time travelling abroad and doing concerts, but he hardly does any in Bombay. "Yes, this is something my father advised me that I shouldn't end up becoming a stage artiste here because that kind of exposure would not help me. I realise the wisdom of that.
I have concerts in Delhi, but I dont do live shows in Bombay, the hub of the playback industry," he explains. Does he ever regret not having been trained? "I've done most of my playback singing as an untrained singer, but I have started training
under Ghulam Mustafa Khan, " he reveals. "He was a judge at Sa Re Ga Ma and I realised it would be helpful to learn. So I've started training with him. He has helped me fine-tune my singing. I also realised that the contestants who participate in my show are all trained singers and that they're very good.
These are the singers who will be my competition, so I better gear up to compete with them!" According to Sonu, apart from Gulshan Kumar, it is this TV show which has helped him the most and conferred on him a star status. "It gives me a platform to show myself, my singing and whatever I'm capable of, " he states.
Even though Sonu's pop albums sell millions of copies, for some reason he has never been nominated for any award. "I've come to accept that I'm not considered to be in the race at all," says the singer. " My Deewana broke the record of Alisha Chinai's Made In India, but it was not even nominated for an award. I've done a lot of work in films too, but no one acknowledges that. I'm the youngest singer in the country to have sung thousands of songs in every language, but that is never mentioned.
"So, what am I to do? I just do my work, thinking awards and
nominations are for a different breed of singers. I was given the
award for Border, but I couldn't accept it because they gave it to me and ignored the fact that Roop Kumar Rathod was a co-singer in the song. I cannot fathom the workings of award committees," he says. Sonu is not known to be a person who enjoys socialising with film folks. "I do my work and come home. I have my own friends and two lovely sisters whom I adore. We spend time together at home, friends come over or we go over to their places, but we keep away from partying. I dont understand or like that culture," he stresses.
What strikes you is this young man's emphatic opinions and clear-cut priorities. His work is important, but not at the expense of his dignity. He doesn't baulk at calling a spade a spade. And he lives life by his own rules. A big fan of Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu says with a smile, "As a kid, I fancied myself as Bachchan. I used to grow my hair long like him and imagine all kinds of things. One day, when I was three, I was playing with the kids in my neighbourhood and I climbed a half-complete building
trying to imitate Amitabh. I didn't realise there were loose bricks and I fell down with a ton of bricks over me, straight on my face. My face couldn't be straightened for two days after that. And the kids ran to my mother and said, 'aunty, aunty, Sonu was trying to be Amitabh and he fell!' You can imagine how
I felt!
Today, Sonu has carved his own place in the music industry. Most composers like him for his efficiency and professionalism. He's a favourite with Anu Malik and Sonu too, believes in Anu Malik's talent. "He's very good. I feel he has an in-built orchestra, he can play so many instruments and knows his work. He should be given his due. I enjoy working with him because he's not heavy duty, there this nice, jovial atmosphere around him which makes working fun." Sonu has worked with everybody, from Jatin-Lalit and A R Rahman to Sandeep Chowtha. There was a time he was rushing about singing as many as 30 songs a day, trying to make a living. His mode of transport in those days was a scooter. Today, Sonu sings about one song a day and owns four cars.
If status symbols are any indication, then Sonu Nigam has definitely arrived.
