Agam Kumar Nite.

Singer Agam Kumar Nigam was till now known as Sonu Nigam's father, due to his son's widespread popularity. But after the release of his debut album Uski Yaadon Mein by T-Series, he is sure to carve his own identity...

While you have people struggling and striving to cut an album, Agam Kumar Nigam, inspite of being a good singer, was reluctant to make a private album. It took a lot of coaxing from the near and dear ones, for him to release his debut album. The reason: Agam Kumar's son Sonu Nigam is already a popular singer, and making a professional entry on the music scene now would make people think that he was trying to cash in on his son's popularity. Says the soft-spoken Agam Kumar, "I am a trained singer and I have been singing for years now, doing stage shows in India and abroad. But I never gave a thought to coming out with an album after Sonu's popularity in the singing field. I felt if I cut an album now , people would say that the father is using his son to launch himself. So I shied away from the very thought. Ultimately, it was the public reaction which led me to seriously take up the idea of cutting an album. After every show, I would have people coming up to me and saying as to why I don't cut an album when I can sing so well. Sonu too was insistent that it is high time I sang for an album. So I gave it a try."

T-Series was the preferred company to launch Agam Kumar's album debut album titled Uski Yaadon Mein - Bewafa Sanam Vol. 8 since it has a warm relationship with Sonu Nigam. "Composers Nikhil-Vinay and Bhushan Kumar, MD of T-Series, were very helpful while working on the album. They helped me in choosing the compositions and lyrics which suited my personality," says Agam Kumar, " The lyrics are by well-known names like Yogesh and Payaam Saeedi. We worked on the album for a year. The initial response to the album is good, especially the masses seem to have liked it. The songs are sober. There's no cheap lyrics. And Nikhil-Vinay have come up with good compositions. Some of the songs are the sad ones like Main bhi kharidaar hoon, main bhi kharidoonga, but I like the romantic numbers, Seene se laga loon jo and Halk a halka suroor hai."

Why the addition of the name Bewaffa Sanam in the title Uski Yaadon Mein? "I think the music company did it because the distributors wanted it that way. T-Series' earlier Bewaffa Sanam albums were hits, so maybe the music company thinks that the title is lucky," he feels.

The video for the album also features Sonu, besides Agam Kumar, and the end has Sonu adding Nigam to his father's name on stage. Why was this shown in the video? "Well, after Sonu's popularity, I have always been writing my name as Agam Kumar, without the surname Nigam, simply because I don't want people to feel I am using him to promote myself. Also I don't want people to compare us. My voice should be appreciated for what it is. In the video, Sonu adds Nigam to my name because he wants to show that he is proud of his father and that he is his father's son, and not the other way round," explains the singer.

Had Agam Kumar concentrated on his career earlier instead of Sonu's, wouldn't he have made a name for himself today? Replies the singer, "Waqt se pehle, kismat se zyada kuch nahin milta. (You get only what you are destined to and at the time you are destined to). When Sonu was young, I wanted to promote him because he had immense potential. It's always wise to start young."

So how much of credit would Agam Kumar take for Sonu's success? "I maye have helped Sonu initially, but he was destined to become famous. Whatever he has achieved today is because he worked hard. When he was child, I knew he had it in him to be a star. And after making it big in singing, he's now doing well in acting too. It's nice to see Sonu's success because it proves that if the son is talented, then his father too must be talented. After all talent does come down from the genes," opines the proud father.

Agam Kumar is an avid Rafi fan and his singing style is quite similar to the legendary singer, as is obvious from the album. "I am completely inspired by Rafi Sahab and I feel their can never ever be a singer like him. All my life, right from childhood, I have been listening to and singing Rafi Sahab's songs," says the singer.

Agam Kumar is already working on his next album, and is all set to do concerts in South Africa nex t week onwards. "Also T-Series will be shooting all the eight songs on my album into eight music videos, and will be releasing them on a VCD," informs Agam Kumar, "This was recommended by the distributors to the music company. I think this is the first time they are doing something like this for a private album, and I am thrilled about it."

Now that he has an album to his credit, Agam Kumar is keen to playback for films too. "I'm quite sure composers will have some songs for me, which suit my style," he says. Which means there's competition for Sonu from home now? "No way," assures the singer, "Pooro duniya padi hai competition ke liye. (There's the whole world to compete with). So why should I compete at home?"

—Salma Khatib for Screen