INTERVIEW OF SONU NIGAM
What was the struggling period like? In Bombay I started by acting in movies. I acted in 'Kaamchor', 'Ustad Ki Ustad Se', 'Hum Se Hai Zamana Taqdeer', 'Betaab' and a few more. In 1984 when I came here, I had no clue what I was going to do. Dad had come to become a playback singer and I tried my hand at acting. But dad realised that things would not work for him. So we returned to Delhi, only to comeback to Bombay in 1991. We met a few music directors and I must admit that almost all were very nice to us. Usha Khanna and Sachin really went out of their way to help. Anu Malik recognised my talent but he himself did not have work then. Years later, things suddenly changed for him. I had changed his name from Annu to Anu. The moment I worked out the numerology for him, he hammered away the extra 'n' from his name.
Who showed you the way in Bombay? It was dad. To survive, we used to sing for birthdays and marriages. We used to go to Delhi to do shows and then come to Bombay and struggle. My dad had specified that I should never do shows in Bombay. It was the right strategy. It's strange he could not use it for himself, but he did have a vision for me. Mine is indeed a rags to riches story. I used to sit and cry in my one-room-flat and pray to God. But slowly after a year and a half things changed. How did the first song come to you? Usha Khanna introduced me to Amar Utpal, who made me sing for 'Aaja Meri Jaan'. When I recorded the song I was told "We will keep the song if we find it good enough". But the song got dubbed by Bala Subramanium and I was left cursing my luck. I cried when I realised that two of my very well sung songs in 'Aaja Meri Jaan', were resung by another singer, without even hearing my songs. I had sung five songs for the film. The first four were rejected but the fifth song was the one that Gulshan Kumar heard and summoned me. The rest is history.
