First thing that strikes you about Sonu Nigam is his boy next-door face and his humility. Every week he regales millions with his mega successful musical show on Zee TV , TVS ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’. He is one of the few singers to have made it big both in films and on the Indi-Pop circuit. This profile is an honest attempt at bringing this talented artiste closer to his fans.
Background and initiation into music:
Sonu Nigam was born on the 30th of July in Faridabad Haryana. The family soon moved to Delhi where the singer spent most of his formative years. His father’s (Agam Kumar) passion for music was soon imbibed by Sonu in his early years and he soon began training under him
First brush with fame
Sonu Nigam had his first brush with fame at a tender age. Only three years old, while accompanying his father for a show, Sonu gave his first public performance in the town of Jind by singing the popular Mohd. Rafi song ‘Kya Hua Tera Vaada’ from Hum Kisise Kum Nahin His father’s lack of ambition was what drove Sonu to tread on the path of success Although Sonu’s father was talented, he never had the will and the drive to make it big in the world of music. His self-pride too very often acted as a hindrance to his progress. All this motivated Sonu to achieve all the things that his father was deprived of and with dreams in his eyes he came to Mumbai in the hope of becoming a singer. He had studied only till the 12th standard in Delhi but after coming to Mumbai he decided on a correspondence graduate
program as his struggle for work had begun.
The struggling days
Things didn’t exactly work as per plan for the aspiring singer. To support himself he started taking on bit roles in movies.
Many people do not know this but Sonu Nigam acted as a child artiste in films like Kaamchor, Ustad Hi Ustad Se, Hum Se Hai Zamana, Taqdeer and Betaab. Along with his father he also started singing in birthdays and marriage ceremonies in Delhi. He however didn’t do the same in Mumbai as his father had advised him against it
His first song and how things changed after that
He recorded his first song for the film Aaja Meri Jaan courtesy Usha Khanna who introduced him to composer Amar Utpal. But he was clearly told by the composer that he would keep the song only if he found it good enough. However fate had something else in store for Sonu as the song got dubbed by SP Balasubramaniam. Sonu was left cursing his luck as two of his very good songs were being sung by another singer and his songs were not even being heard. He had sung five songs in the film out of which the first four were rejected but the fifth song was the one that that Gulshan Kumar heard and summoned him. The rest as they say is history. The song that really made Sonu Nigam famous was
‘Accha Sila Diya Tune Mere Pyar Ka’ for the film Bewafa Sanam.
Success and recognition follow
The young singer started receiving many offers after ‘Accha Sila Diya’ became a hit. Apart from many film and pop album offers, he also got what he considers to be an opportunity of a lifetime and that was to host the musical show ‘TVS Sa Re Ga Ma’. The show not only gave him the opportunity to interact with some of India’s topmost exponents of music but it also brought him face to face with the audience many of whom soon became his fans. Today he has to his credit more than 200 episodes of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’
His foray into the Indi-Pop scene
Sonu Nigam arrived onto the Indi Pop scene with his album Sapnon Ki Baat for T-Series. However his four-year association with the company snapped as a result of bad artiste management on the part of T-Series. He recently went on to do another album with T-Series titled Deewana (pop) which also did not do too well.
Change of audio company also brings in a change in fortune for the artiste After a none too happy association with T-Series Sonu decided to change audio companies and he shifted to
Magnasound. His first album with his new company Kismat was an astounding success, going platinum in sales. The success of the album also prompted the company to sign him again for a Bhajan album titled Sanskaar. His latest album with the company is Mausam which is also doing fairly well. The album has been conceived and supervised by Sonu himself while Ravi Pawar has composed the songs and Ajay Jhingran and Shahab Allahbadi have written the lyrics. Sonu feels that Mausam is for those people who want something new in the world of Indi Pop
The Present And The Future
Today Sonu Nigam has to keep switching between the different roles of a playback singer, a TV host and a pop singer. He has done extremely well in all the three roles so far, but is he going to try out something new? Well news has it that Sonu will soon be turning composer. He is currently composing the music for an album by singer Babul Supriyo of ‘Aati Hai To Chal’ fame. He has already finished composing six out of the eight songs. With most of his film songs also proving to be big hits, Sonu Nigam who once struggled to get work certainly has his plate full at the moment
