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‘I haven’t been utilised properly in Yuvraaj’
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November 17th, 2008

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Sonu Niigaam talks.. Rachana Dubey listens…

Apparently, you’ve cut down on your concert tours.
The schedules aren’t as dense now because I want to spend time with my son Neevan. He’s all of one. I want to see him grow up every day. If I have a longish tour, I take my wife (Madhurima) and him along. I can’t stay without my son. He’s more attached to me than to his mother.

I did a couple of sell-out tours over the last eight months. Rafi Resurrected in the UK with Symphony Orchestra was the baap of all tours. I’m planning a world tour with the same orchestra now.

The South Pacific tour has opened doors for Bollywood to perform in the southern hemisphere. I did a concert in Kuwait.. the first one there in 10 years. So that’s quite a lot of touring

You’re back in the playback zone with Mastam mastam and Shaano in Yuvvraaj.
Yeah, I heard the tracks a few days ago. I loved the way I sound and the compositions. I was happy working with A R Rahman and Subhash Ghai. But I feel that I haven’t been utilised properly. I think they could have extracted better stuff from me. I feel unused on the album.

And Rabne Bana Di Jodi?
Ah! That album is really selling well..believe me, the sales will go through the roof. It’s a soundtrack which will stay in public memory for long.

When I was offered the tribute song, Aditya Chopra expressed complete confidence in me. In that one song, I’ve paid tribute to all the show business personalities I respect.

How has your Rafi Resurrected album done?
Ever since the concert was aired on TV, it has become a cult. Today, when the quality of private albums has dipped , this album as well as Classically Mild have done well.Today, you need brains to draw listeners your songs.

Kailash Kher has become a composer. When will you become one?
I’ve composed Tu kab ye jaanegi and Chanda ki doli mein tracks for my private albums. I’ve also programmed Chanda ki doli. I listen to plenty of music.. high class stuff, I have compositions whirring in my head, I store them or take down notes.

Honestly, I don’t want to go about explaining music to those producers and directors who think they know everything about music. Most of them lack music sense. The day I meet someone who is sensible, I’ll compose for the movies.

Will you ever visit the Indian Idol show again?
They haven’t called me at all but I have an offer from Voice of India. I might go on that show.

How come you walked the ramp recently for Shantanu and Nikhil?
I did that because no one expected me to. Earlier, I had done a magazine shoot for them. When they saw the pictures, they were convinced that I had not been exposed enough, I could be better utilised.

Here, the glamour quotient is restricted to actors but in the west, it’s everyone including sportspersons and singers. I was myself on the ramp, I wasn’t pretentious.

There Are 25 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    On the Yuvvraaj soundtrack I think Nigam should have been used on the Dost track. I can understand his frustration to some extent. He’s used as much on albums these days as just about any singer. But Rahman has in some ways never given Sonu too many starring moments.

  2. Comment by jayshah on 17 November 2008:

    There are so many new singers now that I have lost count and can’t even put the name to the voice.

  3. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    You mean you forgot Benny Dayal?

  4. Comment by jayshah on 17 November 2008:

    Benny, Javed Ali all confuse me. I am not use to their voices yet.

  5. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    And you won’t get used to them either. There are lots more where they came from!

  6. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    Sometimes I think even Rahman goes too far! I mean c’mon, give something worthwhile to the real professionals!

  7. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    satyam: but ARR has given Nigam more “starring moments” than many other famous male singers, although I do agree that he uses Nigam a lot less than he used to. But look at the track record: Bose, Legend of Bhagat Singh, One 2 ka 4, Pukar…

  8. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    Weirdly Rahman gave Sonu the magnificent Satrangi early on in the latter’s career. There was also later Kismat se (Pukar). But recently he’s just not had much use for him. Take JA. The jashne baharan song should also have been sung by Sonu. What can Javed Ali do that Sonu can’t?! And it’s not as if there’s a unique voice quality that the former has either! Similarly Benny is rather ordinary.

  9. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    satyam: I suspect you are joking here, but do think of the Jawaid Ali vocals in Tu Muskura, this guy can sing!

  10. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    Our comments crossed satyam re: sonu, although you did well to “fill in” my unpardonable omission of Satrangi.

  11. Comment by jayshah on 17 November 2008:

    I think Javed Ali can sing, but I think Jashan, Tu Muskara and even Guzarish would have been better with Sonu’s vocals.

    Benny I just realise now sang some songs in JTYJN. See I don’t know them, and unless they enter the arena with some knock-out blockbuster track (Sukhwinder and Dil Se) then I feel like the oldies still rule the roost.

  12. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    I do agree that Sonu should have been used for In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein, for the “straight” romantic number I would not prefer Ali to Nigam…

  13. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    Qalandar: Sonu was used for In Lamhon.. I was referring to Jashne baharan.

  14. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    Yeah, I always get those two songs mixed up…

    …perhaps because even in general, I don’t “get” the Jodha-Akbar soundtrack. i.e. it seems to have all the ingredients, but an x-factor is missing. Neither Jashn-e-bahaaran nor in lamhon ke daaman mein is nearly as strange or romantic as other conventional love songs that ARR has done (e.g. in Pukar). Azeem-o-shaan is my favorite from the album, but I just haven’t heard it as many times over the last year as I had initially thought I would — the more raw edge of the “Mangal Mangal” song from Mangal Pandey is far more memorable…

  15. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    agreed Qalandar..

  16. Comment by Arun on 17 November 2008:

    Those who miss Sonu - check out ‘Tu Muskura’ from Dasvidaniya. Sonu’s silken smooth vocals are just perfect here.

    People like Javed Ali, Benny Dayal, Rashid Ali and Naresh Iyer are part of the Rahman camp now. You’ll get to hear more of these guys in the coming days. Naresh Iyer is a great prospect, he has already made an impact down South so has Benny. I just wish ARR gets Chinmayi to sing more in Hindi as well, she’s easily one of the best singers we have today.

  17. Comment by beld on 17 November 2008:

    Satyam, couldn’t agree with u more. Arr goes overboard in using too many singers. That’s the problem with present day songs - there is too much music and less of singing. I think rahman could make u or me sing decently. That’s his ability. But instead rahman can for a change work with a list singers and give them the freedom to experiment. Wud love to see a arr album with just sonu, shreya, arr and kailash

  18. Comment by satyam on 17 November 2008:

    “I think rahman could make u or me sing decently.”

    LOL, true!

  19. Comment by Arun on 17 November 2008:

    check out ‘Tu Muskura’ from Dasvidaniya

    Correction: Its ‘Muskura’. ‘Tu Muskura’ just refuses to get out of my head :)

    Beld: I’d love to see a Rahman album with very few instruments, very few singers and with more focus on melody. Something like ‘Duet’ is a great example of what I mean. The whole album is driven by the magical saxophone of Kadri Gopalnath and SPB’s awe-inspiring vocals, not to mention Rahman’s excellent tunes. One of my favourite Rahman soundtracks ever.

  20. Comment by beld on 17 November 2008:

    Arun - duet is awesome I agree. Since u bring that up - to me a personal fav is and will always be sangamam. To me, arr is very different in this movie compared to any other. My pet peeve with arr is that he has never done a pure classical like sankarabaranam or his highness abdullah or salangai oli. To me arr will be incomplete as a music director until he does a pure classical

  21. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    I am glad you brought up Sangamam: for me I will pit it against just about any ARR album (in fact, the first Tamil songs I ever heard were “Varaaga Nathi” and then “Sowkiyamma” from this film. Every song in the album is awesome.

  22. Comment by Arun on 17 November 2008:

    I love a Sangamam a lot too, especially ‘Margazhi Thingal’ and ‘Soukyama Kanne’. On doing classical/semi-classical, where are the scripts yaar? Do you think anyone would dare to write something like Sankarabharanam today? I also think most directors are very submissive to ARR, something like “You are a legend Sir, whatever you give me will work”. Even people like Rahman should be challenged and it’s only the directors who can do this.

  23. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    PS– he might not have done a “pure classical” album, but what he has done with particular songs is marvelous enough: Alai Payuthey (Alai Payuthey); Saiyyan (Zubeidaa; sadly mauled in the film, with only a few seconds making it); and even the new-agey “Mohini” (Yuvvraaj). ARR’s “folksy” stuff is even more fun — even something that isn’t itself spectacular (e.g. “Thickuruvi” (Kangalal Keithu Sei)) I can listen to endlessly…

  24. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    Good point Arun. In fact this problem might be even worse in Tamil Nadu. That is, because ARR made his reputation in part with numbers like “Urvashi Urvashi” and “Muqabla”, a lot of “lesser” filmmakers approach him for projects that have nothing going for them except for the ARR soundtrack (and the ARR soundtrack they want is the “youthful” one). This can certainly lead to very enjoyable soundtracks (Sakkarakatti; Kaadal Virus; Udhaya, for instance), but is unlikely to lead to the most memorable ones.

    [Aside: one thing that I am expecting from the Goutham Menon/ARR combo is the sort of cool, distant-yet-paradoxically-wistful number that ARR does from time to time. I suspect that "tone" would be right up Menon's alley...]

  25. Comment by Qalandar on 17 November 2008:

    Yes, “Duet” is a special album, and very much “one unit” conceptually — its constituent songs fit together in a schema and yet retain a diversity of voice and mood…

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