Sonu Nigam's demeanour has mothers husband-hunting for their daughters, in thrall. When he bends to touch the feet of music veterans in TVS Sa Re Ga Ma (Zee),he floors an entire generation of middle-class parents who sigh and wish they had a son or
son-in-law as dutiful as Sonu. Their daughters agree. They are all a little bit in love with his clean-cut, boyish Punjabi looks. His critics, meanwhile, spit venom and argue that this image is just cunning media manipulation -- Sonu is actually arrogant, rude and chauvinistic. But when you meet him, all these arguments seem pointless.
Sonu is not the kind of person who generates any strong feelings either way. He's just your regular guy-next-door who has his own worldview, sticks by it and doesn't expect anyone to subscribe to it. Which is why he sees no reason to defend himself -- one way or the other.
So when you ask him about the cigarette-smoking, girl-chasing Sonu in the recent Music Video Tu, he says, "It is just a regular, fictional video. I am just 25 so it suits my age too.
" A song from his album Kismet, the video was not, he emphasises, an attempt to spruce up what people were calling a fuddy-duddy, mothball image. Not at all. Sonu has no time for concerns about his image.
This Delhi import came to Mumbai in 1991 -- at the age of 18 -- to become a playback singer. And now, he never wants to go home. Not that he has reason to. So far, he has sung for 55 films
and that is not counting his success as the host of the hugely-popular TVS Sa Re Ga Ma.And the respectful, courteous image that he projects on screen is no farce. That is exactly how Sonu
is off screen. The minute he tasted fame, he brought his family over to Mumbai. A family man, Sonu shuns discos and bars.
He dislikes people, his age, speaking rudely to elders and believes that girls should not get into relationships before marriage. A throwback to ancient times? A male chauvinist pig?
"No. I think women are better human beings than men. It is just that in such relationships, girls get the worse deal while boys get away with murder. All I am saying is that girls should be more careful." And while he hopes that good girls stay good, he plays the part of the dutiful son to the hilt.
He came to Mumbai at his father's behest who wanted him to become a playback singer. While his first big break came with Gulshan Kumar's Bewafa Sanam, Sonu's story really begins with TVS Sa Re Ga Ma. So impressed was Gajinder Singh, the producer of the show, by the newcomer he had spotted on a special episode of Antakshari, that he decided to go ahead with a whole new show. Says sonu, "Singh wanted me to take over Antakshari but I suggested a new show because I would never have got the credit for Antakshari's success. It would have always been somebody else's show." Three years later, Sonu will not let go of the show as he thinks it still has potential.
A feeling he has about himself too. "I am not as much in demand as I would like to be in playback singing. I would like to do much more work," he says. Not that his work has not been
appreciated: two dozen awards are lined up in his living room and who can forget `Ye Dil, Diwana' from Pardes? So committed is Sonu to his work that he jogged in front of the mike to get the
energy and "effect of a panting voice". Perhaps, like he ran to make Ye Dil a superhit, he will have to continue running a little bit longer for the fame and recognition he so desires.
