It all began when a young and struggling Sonu Nigam
started singing cover versions of Mohammed Rafi songs
which were sold in cheap T Series cover version packages.
Then, the Zee show Sa Re Ga Ma happened, which saw
him in the avatar of an anchor. The show was a huge hit,
and Sonu became a household name. Meanwhile, his
career both as a singer of film songs and non-film pop
numbers flourished with every passing day. Both as a
singer and an anchor, Sonu made people sit up and take
note of his talent.
For the ambitious young star, acting is the next sojourn.
After he left Sa Re Ga Ma last year due to differences
with the director Gajendra Singh, Sonu is all set to make his
acting debut in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s multi-starrer Jaani
Dushman The film has ten heroes: Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Aftab
Shivadasani, Aditya Pancholi, Arshad Warsi, Sharat Kapoor, Rajat Bedi, Munish Kohli and
Sonu. Sonu admits that he is the “most inexperienced” of the lot, but says he signed on the
dotted line because “he believed in the idea.”
Frankly, there isn’t much that Sonu needs to worry about. Sunny. Akshay and Sunil Shetty
are the three guys who are likely to have their own little battle for the maximum limelight.
Rajat Bedi and Munish Kohli are unknowns. Aftab is a creation of the metropolitan media,
which cannot stop talking about him although very few people actually go and watch his
movies. (As for Kasoor, not many would have gravitated towards the cinema halls but for
the magnetism of Lisa Ray). Arshad Warsi hasn’t done any thing remarkable either. After
Tere Mere Sapne, Arshad’s only other okay performance has been in the largely
unwatched Hero Hindustani which made news only because of the hero’s rumoured soft
corner for the film’s heroine Namrata Shirodkar.
As for the others, Sharad Kapoor has made a comeback of sorts in Mansoor Khan’s
Josh, but that is inconsequential for two things. One, the masses went to see Josh
because of Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Two, not many went to see the film
anyway. Zarina Wahab’s hubby Aditya Pancholi is a forgotten commodity, having come
up with a decent performance fairly long ago in Aziz Mirza’s Yes Boss which was, once
again, dominated by Shah Rukh Khan.
Apart from Sunny, Akshay and Sunil, Sonu is easily the most popular face among those
who actually watch Hindi movies, but do not read newspapers in English and glossy film
monthlies. Since the Big Three have their faithful followers who might come together to
watch this Santoshi offering, Sonu’s decision to be a surprise package, might well turn out
to be a smart move indeed.
