New Delhi, June 6: Sonu Nigam electrified Indian pop music, taking it into a space where none had dared to go before. Far from simplistic renditions of yesteryear, Nigam introduced experimentation into the music scene and what has emerged from his studio has India enthralled. From the hip teens to their grandmothers, no one can get enough of Sonu.
In a crowded market what makes Sonu Nigam stand out? Are you unique? In what way?
I don't analyse my life and work in any way. I like to explore myself, reinvent as far as possible musically, in looks, acting. Everything is new about me and what I
create. I can't stand stale stuff. God has been very kind to me, He keeps opining doors that I didn't even imagine, in my wildest dreams, exist.
How are you taking Indian music forward?
In musical terms I like to keep what is known in Hindustan as gayki ang alive in every aspect of my singing - films and otherwise. It is kind of untranslatable in English, but it has helped me to take my music forward, to give India a new, perhaps unique, sound.
I have broken from the old traditional type of singing represented by Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. You could say they tried to keep things simple. They did not try to metamorphose into a new singing avatar.
I, on the other hand, give my creativity free reign. You could say I am more experiment-oriented. I like to march forward boldly, optimistically and find new ways to express my music.
My singing is not simple. Far from it. I try to introduce complex sound, music as well as presenting lyrics in a different way. My style is also more current. GenNext likes it. For instance, in a singing competition, time after time, I find that youngsters identify with me and try to sing their way to success using my songs. Indian Idol brought this to my notice when a huge number of singers sang most of my songs. They like the challenge of the new. They want to show they are developed enough musically to pick up something modern, control it and then sing it in public.
Also, as an artist, I am plumbing a new genre in using digitalisation to the extreme to create the new sound of India. Something that brings a thrill to every one who listens to my songs. It is uniquely different. It gives me great pleasure to go where no Indian musician has gone before.
Why were you not invited for Kofee with Karan. Has Bollywood still to accept you in its mainstream?
Singers are given second rate treatment in Bollywood. All the credit for every aspect of a movie goes to the stars. We are left in the shadows.
What makes you click so well with SRK in movies? Veer Zaara, Kal ho na ho etc?
Touch wood! I can't begin to ascribe any reasons to it. Perhaps, our stars are lucky for each other. Hopefully, it will continue well into the future. We gel well, I guess.
How does a Delhi boy make it big in Bombay?
Mine was a journey through a very dark world when I came to this metropolis. I struggled and many a time my hard work was wasted or the benefit went to others. For instance, I recorded two songs in early 90s. I was given to understand that I would make it big. Bright lights, big city dreams were put in my head. However, later I found out that all my exertions were wasted, when S Balasubramaniam came in to finish those songs. My voice was entirely dubbed over, deleted. I cried then, for the first time in my life.
His new album?
India has given an extreme reaction to Chanda Ki Doli, in spite of the music industry being very much down in the recent past. I have tried not to oversell myself and that is why this album has come 4 years after my previous one. It may have paid off as people have received it very well, whether in video format or on CDs. I have got the best remarks on it so far.
In the West every singer flaunts a particular type of image. Why is that missing in India.
I never planned my image. My hair, my clothes, shoes, ornaments, whatever, all of them I don if I like them. No one created my image for me. It is self-made. You could say it came to me naturally. I don't try to project any particular image, really. I am not a sex icon, neither am I a romantic idol, I am Sonu Nigam. People like me as I am. And, I won't change to suit any marketing gimmick.
You toured Pakistan last year. How was it? How do you view BJP chief L.K. Advani's Pak tour.
I was targeted in Pakistan, but wherever I went the people I met were very nice and cultured. Aside from that one blip where my life was in danger, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
As far as L.K. Advani is concerned, all that is being ascribed to his words there may be the result of hype. Advani was being politically correct while on a visit to a foreign country. You can't escape diplomacy while traveling abroad.
Hindi TV Shows
Cricket
Kumkum Bhagya
