Shabba shabba (Daud), Deewana dil (Pardes), Sandese aate hain (Border) and Aur pyar (Mohabbat) have buoyed the prospects of Sonu Nigam's career.
Earlier, he was mainly saddled with sorrowful, inconsequential songs which served as a cigarette-break for the audience. "What could I do?" the young singer asks plaintively. "Producers would call me when they wanted a dard bhara song. I was even told that my voice wasn't suitable for the zingy numbers sung by the younger lot of heroes.
The big break finally came when Anu Malik asked him to sing the duet Sandese aate hain in Border with Roopkumar Rathod. And Sonu has become hot property. A much-relieved Sonu feels that his five-year struggle has finally paid off. At a time when he was mostly occupied with singing cover versions for T-Series, he accepted the role of the host in the TV programme, Sa Re Ga ma.
"The work was different, but I found it challenging. It was one way to make the audience know that I exist," he says without flinching. The show did get him the recognition he yearned for. Yet, he had to forego quite a few good singing offers because he was busy shooting for the serial. His well-wishers, like Javed Akhtar, often advised him to give up the programme.
"How could I do that?" Sonu asks. "Sa Re Ga Ma got me my first taste of success. I'm no less a star than any film star today." Yet it's this programme that got the singer with a "good boy" image embroiled in a controversy. There was a war of words with Anu Kapoor, the anchor man of Close-up Antakshari. "Now tell me, what can I do if I give him nightmares?" demands the singer.
"It's his insecurity that's making him a manipulator. I've forgotten that incident now." So far, Sonu has sung in 15 different languages and five dialects. He claims to have brought out more than 400 cassettes of bhajans and cover versions.
"That was like net practice for me," he boasts. His latest album, Sapnon Ki Baat, has just hit the market. Believe it or not, both the male and female voices on the album are Sonu's. "This was Gulshanji's (Kumar) dream project," he confides. "He had put his heart and soul in the cassette. He'd even planned a grand release function, but he didn't live to
attend it. We had a quiet release." Although Gulshan Kumar treated Sonu like a son, it's a well-known fact that there's no love lost between Anuradha Paudwal and Sonu. True? "No comments,"
is the pat answer. And he's upset at the fact that a section of the press has had the gall to link his name with Kavita paudwal. "Just imagine!" he argues, "They didn't even bother to check out such rumours with me. She's like my sister."
Sonu has an alternative career all ready if he ever thinks of changing tracks. Dev Anand had approached him to act in Main Solah Baras Ki. J Om Prakash and Rajesh Sethi have also offered him roles. Ditto Shekhar Kapur. But Sonu turned the offers down, pleading that he doesn't have the killer instinct to survive
in the arena of acting. But the buzz is that the singer won't need too much persuasion to accept the Shekhar Kapur project. "You're right," he blushes. "But it's best to stick to
one career at a time. Kishore Kumar made headway as a singer only after he gave up acting. So I think it's better to concentrate on one discipline at a time."
Sonu must be one of the most eligible bachelors in town. Letters from fans pour in incessantly. He used to reply to them earlier but now just an autographed photograph is sent in return. "When I gave personal replies, the girls started writing back in blood," shudders Sonu. Though just in his mid-20s, Sonu keeps away from discos and all-night revelry. To top it all, no girl has sent his heart racing yet. "Ghanti baji hi nahin," he says wistfully. Fond of numerology, Sonu used to pick up books on numbers. The singer had suggested that Anu Malik drop the extra `n' in his name. He did, and Border happened, followed by Virasat. Several others have benefited from the Sonu's penchant for numerology. Why hasn't he done anything for himself then? He has. He has added an 'm' to his name.
