words yvonne teh

Sonu Niigaam steps out of the movies
and onto the stage

He is the ‘Golden Boy of Indipop’ and many of his albums have gone platinum. The multi-talented Sonu Niigaam is, among other things, a playback singer with cult status in Bollywood, where the film industry uses his singing specifically pre-recorded for its movies, who takes great pride at having “sold the highest number of private albums in a country ruled by film music”. Nevertheless, recording is not this South Asian superstar’s favourite pastime.

Rather, “being on stage, for me, is the biggest high,” he shares. “That is my arena, my place, my opportunity to prove it to the world. In these days of technological advancement, listeners don’t really come to know the true potential of a singer until they see him creating the same magic on stage. The stage is a litmus test for singers and musicians, and mediocre ones either stay away from it, or choose the easy way of lip synching to the original track thereby cheating the audience, or worse just shamelessly belt out pitchless melodies. For me, the stage is my praying ground and I am one with the cosmos when I am performing. Whatever I ask from it comes true – trust me. It is like a three-hour-long extended orgasm!”

Niigaam is a self-confessed “tireless workaholic” with a breakneck schedule that has included a seven-day seven-city Indian tour along with a recent visit ‘down under’ in Australia. Yet he managed to find time to slip in answers to some of bc’s more curious questions.

You used to be Sonu Nigam. Now you’re going by Sonu Niigaam. What’s with the extra ‘i’ and ‘a’ in your surname?
I read a lot and thus ended up learning a bit of numerology when I was struggling in Bombay in 1991 to become a singer. I am not superstitious but believe that certain sciences, if not affecting our own well being, or bothering anyone else’s convenience, can be followed. Thus the change.

It has been said that 90% of Bollywood movies have at least one song sung by you. Is this true and, if so, why is it so?
I used to sing like that earlier but lately, in the last few years, I have started to keep a strict quality check in my work. I decided that when I am not sure of a project and its collective factors, I won’t waste my time by venturing into it. People love me too much to see me in mediocre projects.

Earlier this year, you released the semi-classical album, Classical Mild. Is this something you’ve wanted to do for a time now and what else do you plan to do in terms of expanding your horizons?
Classically Mild has proved to the world that there is always an audience for good work, as long as we are ready to create and provide it. The success of an album which has Indian classical music as its base has not just given me unfathomable jubilation but also stunned the music-trade pundits, besides having given a new direction to other singers who want to do the same now.

My new album is going to be called Rafi Resurrected, a tribute to my guru, Mohommad Rafi, in collaboration with The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, that will put our work for the first time in international music stores. My latest single, Punjabi Please, has rocked the nation with a phenomenal, unprecedented contest and campaign that encompassed millions of music lovers across the country. I want to open newer avenues for music free from films, so music in India has its own identity rather than in the shadows of cinema.

Your father once told you, “Either you can have fun in your youth and then labour in your middle and old age, or you work hard in your youth and enjoy your middle age and old age.” You obviously worked hard as a youth. So, how long do you intend to keep on going professionally?
It is true that my father gave me this precious advice and, most importantly, I understood the worth of it. Now it is more about following my heart. I am not insecure. In fact, for the last so many years, I could call myself one of the few men in this world who have discovered happiness in their life, contentment rare for even the richest and most revered. So very often I have these pangs to retreat to a mountain, or a valley, and spend the rest of my life with creation in its undisturbed form, and then I do it! And then I feel like creating, making, achieving, so I come back to the fast track once again, as if to leave a legacy of my work. The quality of my work has improved manifold thereby – look at Classically Mild. It’s a masterpiece!

The Sonu Niigaam – Live in HK concert will take place on Thursday, May 15, at the HK Polytechnic University’s Jockey Club Auditorium. Showtime is 7:45pm. Tickets are $500 from Jade Group International, 6019 0621.