CHANDIGARH, May 13:
This childish face that talks big on Indian culture and traditions has been a vital ingredient f "satellite" households every Monday evening for almost two years. For the moment, the shadow emerges through the title song, Saat suron ka hain yeh milan, we see this beaming youngster, donned in traditional Indian garb, and sporting a ponytail occasionally.
But this morning, meeting Sonu Nigam in "flesh and blood", sans his French beard and long hair, one could detect the streak of the same gravity with which he talks about music on his programme
TVS Saregama, that has become a platform for talented singers to test themselves.
Sonu is one of the artistes whom MTV has brought for the Pepsi Dance Connection here. It is also a promo tour for his album, Kismat, released only two months back. But for those who
had got used to this young man who sings even the Break ke baad... in classical tone, the album comes as a surprise. It is directed by Biddu, the mentor of Nazia Hassan, and the music is also reminiscent of some of those old tunes. Are the lyrics not slightly pedestrian? Sonu gets into a defensive tone, "No, if you have this chumma lele kind of stuff, then you can call it
pedestrian. Here we are talking about people.
Take Bus Stop, for example. It is a tragic situation that the lyricist, Timon Singh, has created. It is about the dreams of people who have to wait at the bus stop endlessly and then the harsh reality in front of them. In fact, I had tears in my eyes when I finished recording it." What made Sonu Nigam click? Was it the epochal success of Saregama or his warm and homely
presence on screen that made people accept his songs? Sonu regards it as an interlinked phenomenon. "The success of TVS Saregama was because we were the first to launch the concept
of promoting new talent on TV.
Other similar programmes came afterwards. And the success of
Kismat, which is doing very well, can be attributed to its catchy lyrics and melody that cater to all sections of people.''
Sonu is not an overnight sensation but has in fact slogged it out. Though his first song Accha sila diya tune mere pyar ka from Gulshan Kumar's film, Bewafa Sanam, could be heard in every
nook and corner, it took him a great while to be noticed. And that came with J.P. Dutta's epochal motion picture, Border, in which Sonu's young voice gave emotion to Akshaye Khanna's
Sandeshein aate hain. Then we heard his voice giving the peppy tune to Shah Rukh Khan's Dil Diwana in Subhash Ghai's Pardes. But Sonu's passion still is Saregama and he has just
finished the shooting of the 17 episodes of the Mega Final. "In June, we will be going to London for our first recording abroad and the contestants will be drawn from NRI families across the world."
Has any of the winners of the Saregama finals got a break in the Mumbai music world? "See, not everyone who emerges a winner is exceptionally good though there were some who got wonderful
breaks." Sanjeevani, one of the proud winners of the Rainbow Trophy, has bagged all the songs in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's forthcoming venture, Kareeb."But just because you have won the award, nobody will come after you in this world. You have to slog and beg for work. It is not an easy world." Even Sonu finds it difficult but it is in a different vein for he thinks the success of his programme acts as a deterrent to many offers. "Without consulting me, some music directors and
producers just declare that Sonu will not be able to sing for us as he is busy with Saregama.
" He talks big when it comes to the question of awards.
